More spending planned for auditorium

According to the report, plans for the renovation of the landmark center have been mishandled from the very beginning.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
After spending NIS 6 million on plans to renovate the Frederic R. Mann Auditorium (Heichal Hatarbut) that ended up going nowhere, the city is now planning to sink even more public funds into new plans, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. The city has approved the payment of NIS 280,000 to an acoustics adviser, after already paying another acoustics adviser NIS 1 million, and at least one senior official has described the move as "outrageous." According to the report, plans for the renovation of the landmark center have been mishandled from the very beginning. Despite the center's having been designated a historic site, the city approved plans for a general renovation that would have changed the building entirely and would have cost a massive NIS 170 million. After protests by residents anxious to save the auditorium, the District Planning and Construction Appeals Committee rejected the proposed renovations. But the city still paid out the NIS 6 million to various advisers and planners, including the NIS 1 million to the acoustics adviser. A municipal spokesman said the new payment was being made for an "examination of the possibility for renovation," and that no plan had yet been decided on.