A mammoth 25-screen cinema multiplex and amusement park covering 20 acres will be built in Haifa at a cost of $170 million, Walt Disney Company’s Shamrock Holdings has announced.

The project, which will not be a Disney theme park, will also include thousands of square feet of shops and is projected to begin operation in 2013.

The amusement park itself will cover 30,000 square feet. The Haifa amusement park and movie complex will be built on private land at an exit from the Carmel Tunnel in Haifa.

“The project reflects our goal of providing quality entertainment for the people of Israel,” said Avi Edery, deputy CEO of Israeli-based New Lineo Cinemas, which operates a huge movie complex in metropolitan Tel Aviv. He said that the project still is in the development stage but will focus on the movie complex.

"This plan expresses confidence in our plans to turn Haifa Bay in a thriving business area,” said Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav. “The plan began with the municipality's assistance in the building of Cinemall and the upgrade of the mall, previously known as the Lev HaMifratz Mall, and the building of the transport hub for the cable car, which carries passengers up to the Technion and Haifa University."

"In the last few years, Haifa has invested, overall, billions of shekels in upgrading the city's infrastructure and ambitious development plans," Haifa Municipality deputy spokesman Roni Grossman told Chinese news agency Xinhua.