The park is on the site of Israel's biggest garbage dump, the Hiriya Landfill, a mountain of garbage that was used from 1952 until 1998. The government has now transformed the site and the area around it into one of the largest parks in the country, named after Israel's ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The ongoing restoration project will transform Hiriya from a waste landfill into a flourishing, green park which will attract thousands of visitors each year, providing recreational opportunities, walking paths, a 50,000-seat amphitheater and a large recycling facility, designed to symbolise the potential of recycling. The project will cost an estimated $250m and is scheduled for completion in 2020.
For the official unveiling, the park held a party for organisers, government officials and VIPs to celebrate the opening and see what the park will now offer. Lighting designer Gil Teichman used 90 Fine Art Fine99 Xenon 4K fixtures, 75 Robe ColorSpot 2500E AT and six kilometres of Incandescent lamp chain to compliment the landscape, all controlled with W-DMX. Gil Teichman Lighting Design was supplier of all equipment.
Laser effects were also incorporated using five Pangolin Laser Designer 2000 laser projectors using two, four and eight watt Green and RGB. Lasers were run by Ronen Aricha and Russell Abel of Showdesign.
The total size of the park and the lighting show was 8000 acres. The W-DMX receivers were located at a distance of two kilometres from the transmitter.
Kobi Rosenthal, lighting technician at Gil Teichman said, "We are always confident using W-DMX. It's just not practical or economical to run cable in a situation of this size. Plus the signal is rock solid every time."
Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution added, "We're always happy to hear success stories like Ariel Sharon Park. The project promotes 'green' initiatives in many ways - not only by turning a dump into a park and recycling facility but in using eco-friendly means to officially open the park. W-DMX means no cable, no copper and no digging up the park they worked so hard to build."
(Jim Evans)
