Israel has been finalizing plans for a new 2,000-acre park on the site of a former garbage dump near Tel Aviv. Ariel Sharon Park will also now include a 50,000-seat amphitheater, says Haaretz. Concerts at existing Tel Aviv stadiums create massive traffic jams throughout the city, which is why the city seeks to move events to the park. The park is expected to be one of the largest man-made metropolitan parks, and will also serve as a flood plain and “green lung” for the Tel Aviv area. The amphitheater will be built by the German landscape architecture firm, Latz + Partner and Broida-Maoz and Moria Sekely, two Israeli landscape architecture firms.
According to Haaretz, the theatre will have two seating areas – one includes 5,000 seats, while the second will offer grassy terraces with space for 40,000 to 50,000 people. Access to the terraces will be free throughout the year. The amphitheater will also include a man-made lake with recycled on-site water, public transportation connections, and parking lots.
Ayalon Park director, Danny Sternberg, said to Haaretz: “this park will be opened in stages, and might only be completed in 20 or 30 years. But we must remember that until now Hiriya was a backyard that everyone suffered from, and now everyone will be able to enjoy it. This used to be a garbage dump – now it will be a park that will serve as the gateway to Israel for those coming from abroad.”
Hiriya was Israel’s largest landfill, receiving garbage from 1948 through 1999, writes Jewish Week. Flocks of birds drawn to food in the garbage posed risks to flights at nearby Ben Gurion airport. To address these safety issues, Israeli government officials closed the dump. Much like Fresh Kills park, now in development in New York City, the new Israeli park collects bio-gas from decomposing trash for clean energy, controls leachate (liquid that drains from landfills), and includes man-made wetlands and water recycling facilities.
Jewish Week adds that Hiriya’s new recycling plant is already in operation and helping to reduce the dump’s existing garbage. “Inside the recycling plant, conveyor belts churn waste through pools of murky water, in a separation mechanism that divides plastics, metals and biodegradable materials. The metals settle at the bottom of the trough, the biodegradable materials remain in the middle and the plastics — due to their lighter weight — float to the top. Cylindrical claws crunch plastic bottles together into cubical units [...]. Useful byproducts from the recycling process include ferrous materials, soil compost improvers, bio-gas energy, film plastic and glass.”
There is also an educational component. At the foot of Hiriya, plans are also underway for an educational center to teach visitors about recycling and the environment. According to Jewish Week, “Admission for children is four empty plastic bottles, and they can sit on couches made of tires strung together and desk chairs made of plastic garbage bins. Hanging from the ceiling are not only functional soda bottle lamps, but also a decorative chandelier made of toilet seats, gas masks, Rollerblades and more.”
Also, learn about Fresh Kills Park in New York City, a similar garbage dump-to-park project
Image credit: Tree Hugger
