Friday, May 29, 2015

City of David Visitors' Center update

ABOUT TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION: Final Steps Underway for Jerusalem’s City of David Visitor’s Center (JNS News Services/Jewish Press).
Final steps are underway for building the City of David’s “Kedem” visitor’s center in Jerusalem that will sit on top of the “Givati Parking Lot” excavation just outside of the Old City of Jerusalem’s walls. The visitor’s center will serve as an entryway to the Jerusalem Walls National Park, which includes the City of David and Mount Zion, as well as to the Old City’s Ophel and Hulda Gates.

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Back in early 2012 I noted a report that implied that the project was "going forward apace," but it appears that the actual construction has not yet begun, which is more the pace I would have expected. This Elad-sponsored project has not been without controversy.

UPDATE: Joseph Lauer points to a 2011 article by Israel Finkelstein in The Forward for background on the history and politics of the area called "the City of David": In the Eye of Jerusalem’s Archaeological Storm.