There are days Jerusalem feels like one big construction site. Taking advantage of the pleasant weather, I walked around to see what’s new on the Jerusalem streets and to share with you.
The lights are on again at the Israel Museum as night events are returning.
The corner where King George Street becomes Keren Hayesod Street near Paris Fountain is so dangerous for pedestrians, we now have a crossing guard. The sidewalk is so ripped up, sometimes two men are on duty.
The street adjacent to the new National Library is finally without any visible construction equipment.
Walk past the library you see the new government offices rising to the sky.
Walk around them and look across the Begin Highway to the new hi-rise apartments of Kiryat Moshe. A row of these is planned to replace the old smaller dwellings. The row of three hotels near the city entrance which used to be considered tall is dwarfed in comparison.
And then there is the Jerusalem Gateway project!
When the gate was open, I entered hoping to find a shortcut. I had a meeting near the main bus station, an area of Jerusalem that has continually changed over the past three years.
As always, my shortcuts end up taking longer. However what a sight this was, digging down and down.
This was a photo taken in 2012 of the Jerusalem Gateway project.
These photos are of the same part of Jaffa Road as it is now.
And a closer look at the construction rising well above ground level.
Nearby is the old Shaare Zedek Hospital on Jaffa Road that has had several tenants since the last patient left its stone walls. The 5th Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art is set to open here on November 11th.
The area behind it and the blue fence is to be a major building project.
Construction cranes and wires obstruct the view of the Chord Bridge.
Looking down its seems that it will be a long time before this is finished.
But all around Jerusalem, the development projects start by digging down.
Then look up and there’s more being lifted in and out of building sites.
Our local builder buddies ask for their photos often when I walk by.
Who remembers when this hotel was the only tall building in Jerusalem?
The Hilton Hotel, which became the Crowne Plaza, is now the Vert Hotel.
But, soon it will have competition for the tallest hotel and King George Street will have a new look.
Seeing the second group of foreign tourists greeted in the Vert lobby was exciting. Hopefully, international tourism will begin again. Individual visitors, not just groups, have a possibility to come into Israel as of November 1, 2021. But, there is a long list of legal requirements to enter.
This is the view of Cinema City and the Supreme Court from the Vert.
Another view over the new residential buildings and hotel.
And my favorite, the view of Nachalot, on a clear evening, with the mountains in Jordan visible on the other side of the Dead Sea.
Attending an event in the Vert Presidential Suite, I took a little tour for you
and checked out the loo in the impressive Presidential Suite.
Oh, what a view at night!
No matter which direction, day or night, the Jerusalem streets are impressive to walk or stroll or to run.
Here’s hoping the 11th Jerusalem Marathon is again an international one.
And next? Check out the options from 131 Open Houses later this month.
