Huppas at Nokia stadium? Hutzpa, says Visner

Stadium managers suggested that hiring the stadium out for private events might help recover the cost of renovations.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
macabi fans 88 224 (photo credit: AP)
macabi fans 88 224
(photo credit: AP)
An idea by the managers of the Nokia Arena at Yad Eliyahu to allow the stadium to be used for private functions such as weddings has sparked the fury of Deputy Mayor Pe'er Visner, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. Visner says there is no way that private functions should be allowed at the stadium in any effort to recover the NIS 120 million cost of renovations. According to the report, stadium managers suggested that hiring the stadium out for private events for tens of thousands of shekels at a time might be one way to help recover the cost of renovations there. But Visner wrote a sharply worded letter to the managers rejecting the idea, saying that as a public venue the stadium should be used for public events only. "With the completion of renovations to the new spacious lobby at City Hall, there is no doubt that it would be a suitable place for private functions," Visner said. "But would it be appropriate to hold private functions in City Hall to cover the cost of renovations? Of course not... (Similarly) it should not even be in anyone's mind to hold private functions in the sports stadium." Visner added that as far as he knew, the planning and licensing authorities would never allow private functions to be held in the sports stadium. But stadium managers responded with their own letter, saying it was their duty as a business enterprise to maximize revenues. They added that every event held at the stadium was "private," and that the stadium received no municipal funding.