On June 8, 2020, KKL-JNF’s Board of Directors approved the establishment of a new park in Jerusalem - “Asbestos Park” - that will be constructed next to the Kiryat HaYovel and Kiryat Menahem neighborhoods at a cost of 70 million NIS.
The new park, which is being created at the request of the Jerusalem Municipality, will serve residents of southwest Jerusalem’s Kiryat HaYovel, Kiryat Menahem, Malha, Givat Massuah and Ein Kerem neighborhoods. The site is dubbed Park HaAsbestonim (Asbestos Prefabs Park) for the prefabricated residential buildings that were hastily put up in the surrounding neighborhoods to accommodate refugees arriving from North African and Middle Eastern countries in the 50’s and 60’s.
The plan to develop the park – which is expected to extend over an area of about 200 dunam (approx. 50 acres) and will include upgraded playground equipment, sports facilities, cycling and walking paths, a constructed lake, a renovated communal garden, and access paths connecting the surrounding neighborhoods – will be advanced by the Jerusalem Development Authority.
KKL-JNF is funding the creation of the park in its entirety. Kiryat HaYovel, the neighborhood adjacent to the park, was named in honor of KKL-JNF’s golden jubilee year (the Hebrew word yovel means “jubilee” and is the source of the English word). Because of this, the park represents the closing of a circle that will bind KKL-JNF closer still to Jerusalem.
Regarding the decision to establish the park, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon said, “This is a festive, joyous and, above all, historic piece of news. After many long years, Prefab Park will become the equivalent of Sacher Park for residents of Kiryat HaYovel and its environs, and all Jerusalemites will benefit [Sacher Park is currently Jerusalem’s largest public park. It adjoins the government compound and the upscale neighborhoods of Shaarei Chesed and Nachlaot]. We regard parks and green lungs like these as being of supreme importance. We shall continue to promote the establishment of additional parks within the city’s neighborhoods. I should like to express my gratitude to the KKL-JNF World Chairman for this wonderful gift. Thank you!”
Following the park’s approval, KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar said, “In the framework of KKL-JNF’s commitment to developing and advancing the capital city of the Jewish People and creating greener environs for its residents, I am thrilled to implement the construction of a new park. It will provide a vital ‘green lung’ for one of Israel’s largest and most important cities. I likewise welcome this opportunity for productive cooperation with the mayor and the Jerusalem Development Authority. We shall continue to work together to strengthen the city, enhance its status and benefit its inhabitants.”
Neighborhood parks are the crux of the city’s open spaces plan. Accordingly, in recent years, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority have advanced development of local green spaces such as Rockefeller Park, Gonenim Park and the Sanhedrin Park, which provide a real solution to the shortage of large open areas accessible to the public. The zoning plan designates a neighborhood park for each neighborhood cluster, functionally linking population size to the provision of landscaped open areas extending over at least 20 dunam (approx. 5 acres). Insofar as possible, the parks have been constructed in central locations so that residents all throughout the city will have access to a local park that does not exceed a ten-minute drive from their homes.