Once upon a time in Jerusalem,
And this time – The Clal Center is under construction, in 1970.
The Clal Center is located at the top of the hill at the intersection of Agrippa and Ki’ach Streets, near Mahane Yehuda Market, and was built as an innovative office and commercial complex in the heart of Jerusalem, a kind of indoor and modern shopping mall, in the days when the shopping mall was still just a narrow valley between two high mountains.
The complex was built on the lot where the Alliance School, which was one of the main schools in Jerusalem, was located for 90 years, even before the severe conservation trend that afflicted Jerusalem and the rest of the country.
Of the magnificent school landmark in the historic building, only a partial reconstruction of the main gate to the building remains.
The complex was built in stages, the first stage of which was the construction of the Clal Center office building, and the commercial areas located below it.
Due to the topography of the area and the height differences, the complex has several entrances, from Agrippa Street, Ki’ach Street, and the nearby Jaffa Street, with each entrance leading to a different level.
The flooring of the trading floors was made of concrete street stone interwoven with brown and small stones, a dome that was supposed to be transparent, let in natural light, and from the various entrances the pedestrians flowed to different levels and half levels, with staircases that surrounded the central space.
The developers of the building were a partnership of Azorim, Oz Investments, and businessman Victor Carter.
Later, the businessman Gershon Rozov, the owner of Oz Investments, sold his share to the Azorim group, which was part of the Clal concern, and therefore the building was called the Clal Center.
The building was designed by architect Dan Keenan, who testified himself that Merkaz Klal was one of his least successful projects.
Most of the stores in the building were sold to private merchants, and the Clal company continued to own the retail spaces on the street level and the office spaces.
Many small private shops without effective central management.
In the 1980s, many shops operated in the center, and the center operated at high occupancy.
One of the main stores was the Rim Furniture flagship store, where an energetic young man named Binyamin Netanyahu, who later advanced in his career, worked as the marketing manager.
The Kfir Cinema also operated in the center, a movie theater owned by Moshe Dadash, the man of napkins, who was one of the owners of the Edison Cinema and the legendary owner of the Beitar Jerusalem group in the heyday of
“Malmilian, Ohana, and Sami also, the trio leading Beitar to glory.”
The writer and poet A. Kala.
The cinema was open to the general public on Shabbat, which caused a focus of protests by the ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem, demonstrations, and disruptions.
The rumors and urban legends also say that the Jerusalem gang of Micah Aslan and Gabi Ben Harosh, central figures of the Jerusalem underworld of that time, buried a man in the foundations of the building, a rumor that has not been proven to this day.
Later, competitors arose for the complex, such as the Hahachim Israel Mall and the commercial complex in Talpiot, Malcha Mall, and more.
Access to the city center by car became unbearably difficult, and the center of Clal slowly sank.
Visitors to the place had the center for a puzzle and game of landmarks,
Because of problematic planning and orientation difficulties.
Most of the shops in the complex had a small handwritten sign on the front door – no intelligence here.
At that time, the most beautiful view in the city was seen from the windows of the building’s office tower, because it was the only view from which you could not see the building at all.
Legends say that a group of visitors who entered the compound in the 80s are still looking for an exit from the compound.
Another group that eyewitnesses swear they saw in the complex is still looking for the elevators to the office floor.
This is our Jerusalem-
An ugly commercial center built of sawn stone in the heart of the city, on the ruins of a mythological school in a historic building,
Foundations reinforced with a human skeleton,
Many entrances from different levels, which turned the building into a navigation task,
A Kfir cinema that is open on Shabbat and a marketing manager for a furniture company, who later became the Prime Minister of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom to all, far and near, from Jerusalem.
