Fifty thousand cubic meters of concrete. That’s how much material went into building this behemoth. Welcome to Migdal Shalom Meir. Look at it. This isn’t just a building. It’s a story etched in steel and concrete.
Migdal Shalom Meir. It’s Israel’s first skyscraper. Completed in 1965 it was once the tallest building in the Middle East. Imagine the pride. The ambition. To build something so daring. So high.
Before Migdal Shalom Meir stood the Herzliya Hebrew High School. A beautiful building. But progress marches on. The school was demolished to make way for this giant. Some say this was a mistake. A regrettable loss. They even made the old school’s outline the symbol of a heritage preservation council. Think about that. A symbol born from loss.
The Meir brothers built this tower. Moshe Mordechai and Menachem. They named it after their father Reb Shalom-Shachna Meir. A successful businessman. A Zionist leader. He came from Romania and played a significant role in Tel Aviv’s early years. He was even one of the founders of Ramat Gan. This building is a legacy. A monument to their family’s history.
Notice the creamy colored tiles. They came all the way from Italy. Made specifically for this building. And get this. There’s an empty subway station under Migdal Shalom Meir. The tracks were never laid. A ghost station. A forgotten dream beneath our feet.
Today Migdal Shalom Meir houses the Tel Aviv Center. It’s a museum filled with exhibitions celebrating Tel Aviv’s history and development. It’s a place to discover the city’s past. To understand its growth. To appreciate its spirit.
So here we stand before Migdal Shalom Meir. A skyscraper. A monument. A testament to ambition progress and a lost school. It is more than just a building. It’s a piece of Tel Aviv’s soul. A place where history. innovation and even a few ghosts reside.