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Habima revamp is at least six months late, NIS 15m over budget
By Zipi Shohat
Tags: Tel Aviv theatre 

The Habima Theater renovation project has so far cost NIS 91 million, NIS 15 million above the budget to refurbish the Tel Aviv landmark. The opening date of the national theater, set for the beginning of next year, has been postponed.

"It's clear to us that we will not enter the building before mid-2010," Odelia Friedman, Habima's co-CEO, told Haaretz.

The project has been beset by a series of mistakes. Its cost was originally estimated at NIS 31 million and then expanded to NIS 76 million, funded by the Tel Aviv municipality and the government.
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The Habima friends association pledged to raise NIS 10 million, but has not yet been able to do so.

Serious flaws have been discovered in the scaffolding for the stage lights and scenery. The planners had intended to use the old structure to save money, but it was damaged during the work. According to Friedman, the contractor is responsible for the damage and will repair it. Friedman denies claims by people involved in the renovation that metal components have gone missing.

Taxpayers will bear most of the costs of the delays. Performance spaces throughout the city must be rented; for example, the 900-seat auditorium at the Beit Hahayal soldiers' hostel costs NIS 1 million a year.

Habima receives NIS 2.5 million annually from the government for renting halls and funds the shortfall from its budget. Money that should be funding performances is going for hall rentals; in 2009, Habima put on 400 fewer performances than the previous year.

There was no public discussion on the renovation of Israel's national theater, nor was a tender issued to select the architect. The architect was chosen by the Habima building company and others involved in the project, according to Habima's Gadi Bar-Oz. He says two architects were approached, Dan Eitan and Ram Karmi, and Karmi was chosen.

Habima, however, prefers to look on the bright side: After the renovation, there will be new dressing rooms, offices and storage facilities, and the venue will be wheelchair-accessible. To this end, the building juts out seven to eight meters closer to Rothschild Street and the parking lot.

But the high, gleaming, windowless walls of the new facade have been panned by critics, as well as the fact that the stage has no orchestra pit.

Friedman says Habima is not involved at all in the construction, and the project is being handled by the Habima and Mishkan construction companies. According to Mishkan CEO Yohanan Dan, "It is imprecise to say that Habima is not involved. They are involved and are partners, but they do not have the responsibility."

Uri Ofer, the Culture and Sports Ministry's representative on the steering committee, seems unperturbed by the delay. "The renovation of the Bolshoi Theater was planned to take three years and went on for eight," he says. "If Habima opens in a few more months, those doing the work deserve flowers and medals."
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  1.   lateness as a cultural Right 17:24  |  Concerned new immegr 03/11/09
  2.   Fire the lot! 17:28  |  Jason 03/11/09
  3.   #2 and #1 ; Construction and renovation projects are always late. 19:16  |  Canadian Observer 03/11/09
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