Posted on July 15, 2020
JERUSALEM — Despite being three months into a global pandemic, this spring Pardes enthusiastically continued to take steps towards realizing the dream of a new state-of-the-art facility to house the growing number of programs, students, events and research projects taking place at Pardes throughout the year.
Here are the latest updates:
This spring, excavation and pile permit requests were submitted to the Municipality of Jerusalem. These requests included full engineering plans for the tower, with preliminary plans from structural engineers as well as about a dozen other consultants who will work on individual components of the tower, such as plumbing, HVAC and electricity.
The permit applications request permission for up to seven stories of underground parking, which allows the greatest flexibility for the final height of the tower. The planning commission will review the application over the coming months and will ask for clarifications regarding the design as part of the standard review process.
While the permit request is being processed, our architect, along with the consultants, are working on more detailed building plans that will be needed for the actual building permit.
The most visibly exciting components of the process to date took place in June, starting with the property being fenced off as a construction site.
Once the excavation permit is approved, the contractor will put up a more permanent and decorative acoustic fencing.
Soon after the installation of the temporary fencing, a crew was brought in to take core soil samples to be analyzed as the engineers plan the foundations of the building. Altogether the team drilled in five locations to a depth of 55 meters, about 180 feet.
Also of note, the Jerusalem Development Authority just last week released a 46-page presentation (there is currently not an English version available) outlining the municipality’s proposed vision of Talpiot, a southern section of Jerusalem where Pardes is located. Talpiot was originally zoned as an industrial area but in recent years it has mostly housed commercial and light industry. This plan lays out the municipality’s hopes to transform the area into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood with commercial, residential and cultural centers.
This incredible project is made possible because of the many generous donors to Pardes’s Campaign for the Generations, which to date has raised over $20 million. Those interested in learning more about the Campaign are encouraged to visit www.pardes.org.il/capital-campaign or to contact Joshua Chadajo, Executive Director of Pardes in North America at joshua@pardes.org.