Video, Photos: Construction on Chareidi Complex Begins at Former Site of Edison Theater

[Video and photos below.] Some 70 years after the Edison Theater opened on Rechov Yeshayahu in the heart of Yerushalayim, construction began this week at the former site of the theater on a new chareidi development being built by the kehillah of Kiryas Yoel, NY, led by Rav Aharon Teitelbaum of Satmar. The theater, after it shut down in 1995 , lay dormant for years as its owner, Muzi Mizrachi, refused to sell the land to chareidim.

Four years after the Satmar kehillah bought the land, actual construction began Tuesday night on the 64 units planned for there.
For many years, the theater served as a culture center, with artists from all over the world performing there, and political parties holding their conferences at the venue, which was opened on Shabbos.  

The old secular-religious border used to run near the Edison. Built in 1932, the Edison Theater was Yerushalayim’s third theater at the time. While agreements had been signed between the chareidi community with the two other theaters not to be open on Shabbos, the Edison showed little interest in being closed on Shabbaos. In the 1950s, there were many demonstrations on Friday nights against the theater.

The Edison eventually stopped showing movies, closed down as a theater, and was eventually knocked down.
Two years ago, Rav Aharon Teitelbauym of Satmar traveled to Eretz Yisroel for the cornerstone laying of the new building on the site of the Edison and this week the project got off the ground.

The construction is expected to cost some $ 40 million, and apartments will be sold at subsidized rates for Satmar families.

In addition to apartments, two botei medrash are being built, in addition to stores and an underground parking area.

For a video clip of the start of construction, click below:

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For photos of the start of construction, click below:

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{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}