KKL-JNF to invest NIS 30 million in Dimona park

Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael- Jewish National Fund will invest NIS 30 million in a new, expansive park named after David Ben-Gurion in Dimona, the organization announced on Sunday.

After 10 years of planning and applying for permit approvals, KKL-JNF is beginning construction of the park in the month that marks 39 years after the former prime minister’s death.

The park will encompass 65 hectares (161 acres) of desert land, including a 1- hectare (about 2.5-acre) lake, a family recreation center and a green forest grove – with accessibility to the disabled, the organization said.

While the forest itself was originally planted in the 1970s, growth of residential communities and other infrastructural development have emerged around it since. As a result, KKLJNF began planning the area’s transformation in a new and modern oasis, with playgrounds, walking trails and recreational spots, the organization said. The lake alone will cost NIS 11m. and will be home to boating and other water sports.

“The new and modern park named after Ben-Gurion – which we will build there together with the municipality and with the contribution of the heads of KKL-JNF and the community in Holland that adopted the park – will be the green lung of the city, will raise the quality of life in Dimona and will completely change the culture of leisure time in the city,” said KKL-JNF chairman Efi Stenzler.

“Experience shows that the establishment of touristic spots for sports and leisure alongside projects that will be established around them also brings about a rise in property values and attracts many people to come and live in Dimona – as a vision of Ben-Gurion to settle the Negev,” said Stenzler.