Ramat Gan Mayor Sets February Target for Theater and Community Center Upgrade

Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen has outlined a multimillion-shekel upgrade of the city's theater and adjacent community center, with work expected to continue until February. The plans include a café-restaurant in the theater's lobby and courtyard, alongside a comprehensive renovation of the neighboring community center. In the announcement reported on November 1, the mayor thanked Deputy Mayor Einav Bar Cohen, who chairs Beit Emanuel, for leading the wider improvement project. The current account describes investment of millions of shekels but gives no exact total. It identifies February as the works timetable without specifying a year or a separate opening date for the café. The café proposal predates this announcement. On April 26, the municipality was advancing an approximately NIS 1.5 million café and site-adaptation package through Beit Emanuel, and an operator tender had already been issued. That earlier plan included indoor seating and an outdoor forecourt, with neighborhood residents, theater audiences, library visitors, community-center participants and Beit Zvi acting-school students among its intended users. The adjacent community-center upgrade was also part of the April plans. In that earlier announcement, Bar Cohen said the project would "create encounters between people and strengthen the connection between residents and local culture." The newly reported February timetable sets out the next stated milestone for the combined cultural and community facilities.