The Jerusalem city council said Wednesday it will spend millions of dollars beautifying Har Homa (Homat Shmuel), and will use 50 million
shekels ($12.5 million, 10.2 million euros) to fund development in the neighborhood, according to AFP.
The money will be channeled toward construction of a park, children’s playgrounds, green spaces, new street lighting, as well as football and basketball grounds, the council said.
It did not give a precise timeframe for the spending plan, only saying work would begin “in the near future.”
The development was made possible in an agreement reached between the Ministry of Construction and the Jerusalem municipality, under which the Ministry of Construction will transfer responsibility for Har Homa – considered at times as a “suburb” of Jerusalem – to the Jerusalem municipality itself.
The first phase of construction, expected to be completed within weeks, will see the City Beautification Department work to rehabilitate roads and sidewalks, finish development of public buildings and spaces, and add guard rails to existing roads.
The next steps include the finer details of the development plan, including adding parks, plazas, and other infrastructure projects.
“We are investing resources in developing and upgrading the city’s neighborhoods and quality of life of residents,” Mayor Nir Barkat stated Wednesday. “Residents of Homat Samuel in the near future will see our great investment in all areas of life in the neighborhood.”
The Homat Shmuel neighborhood is named after the late Shmuel Meir, who served as deputy mayor of Jerusalem from the National Religious Party and was killed in a car accident in 1996.