| פיס ארנה ירושלים | |
 Jerusalem Arena | |
 | |
| Location |  Jerusalem,Israel |
|---|---|
| Public transit |   at Malcha Sports Complex Old Jerusalem–Tel Aviv Railway Line atJerusalem Malha |
| Owner | Jerusalem Municipality |
| Operator | Ariel Municipal Company Ltd. |
| Capacity | 11,000[2] |
| Field size | 441,300 square feet (41,000 m2) |
| Surface | Parquet Ice |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 2009 |
| Opened | 11 September 2014 |
| Construction cost | NIS 400 million EUR € 85 million |
| Architect | Arthur Spector[1] |
| Tenants | |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (2014–present) | |
TheJerusalem Arena (Hebrew:הארנה ירושלים,HaArena Yerushalayim), renamed for the National LotteryMifal HaPais grant asPais Arena Jerusalem (Hebrew:פיס ארנה ירושלים,HaPais Arena Yerushalayim), is a multi-purpose sports arena that was built inJerusalem by the city council and National Lottery grant of Mifal HaPais. Opened in September 2014, the arena is located in theJerusalem Sports Quarter, in the southwesternMalha neighborhood, adjacent toTeddy Stadium. The arena seats 11,000 forbasketball games.
The arena interior itself covers 40,000 square metres (430,000 sq ft) and, according to former Jerusalem MayorNir Barkat, the arena is the largest indoor space in Jerusalem.[citation needed] The arena is able to host professional sports, world-class concerts, international conferences, and cultural events.[3] The arena also contains a medical sports center, club rooms, offices, and two additional halls. The entire complex includes 47,370 square metres (509,900 sq ft).
The arena is part of a number of sports facilities in the Jerusalem Sport Quarter, which include an indoorOlympic-size swimming pool,tennis courts, and anice rink. It is also a multi-purpose site, with hotels and residences for athletes with accommodations of 240 rooms, that is able to provide facilities for exhibitions, cultural and business events. There is also an underground parking space for 1,700 cars, and aretail power center.
In 2004, Jerusalem mayor,Ehud Olmert, declared a newbasketball arena would be built within a year. In December 2005, thecornerstone was laid. In July 2009, the city hall publicizedtenders for building the arena's infrastructure.
The building project was originally scheduled to be finished in late 2014, and originally estimated at a cost 240 millionNIS. Of which, 187 million NIS was to be covered byMifal HaPais, 20 million NIS from a grant from the Israeli National Sports Betting Council, and 33 million NIS from the Jerusalem municipality. However, the final eventual cost of the project ended being over 400 million NIS.[3]
Upon completion, the arena became the new home arena of theIsraeli Basketball Premiere League clubHapoel Jerusalem B.C., as they moved into it from the smallerMalha Arena, which was their previous home arena. The arena was officially opened on 11 September 2014.[4]
During the20th Maccabiah Games in 2017, a temporary full-size ice hockey rink was installed. The capacity of the arena (10,000 for ice hockey) made the tournament an attraction for thousands of fans, with the final game of the open tournament, in which Canada beat the United States 7:2, attracting an attendance of 9,000 and becoming the highest attended ice hockey game in history on Israeli soil.[5]
31°45′4.05″N35°11′38.92″E / 31.7511250°N 35.1941444°E /31.7511250; 35.1941444
Media related toJerusalem Arena at Wikimedia Commons