Beit-Hillel, A tourist village       Beit-Hillel was chosen to be included in the project of "tourist villages", a project initiated jointly by the Office of Tourism (OT) and by the Jewish National Fund (JNF). The tourist master plan crystallized in the course of a planning process that included involvement of the settlers of Beit-Hillel. The master plan presented and graded 10 Projects for development. The joint steering committee of OT, JNF and the settlers selected two Projects for development in the first stage. A plaza was built in the center of the settlement to connect the Culture Center and the Administration Offices of the settlement into one Public Complex. At the settlement north entrance where the historic Water Tower is located, a square was designed where sitting areas were linked to the historic structure. The conceptual ideas developed in the designing of the central plaza and the water tower square were derived from observing the unique formations in Beit-Hillel which encompass the geometry of the agriculture lands, and the natural curved line carved by the bed of the Hazbany river through the valley. The plaza is built of concrete bordered by a geometrical grid of natural stone stripes. Patterns of tree leaves were stamped in the concrete. A meandering line, resembling a stream, set with pebbles in different sizes and with river vegetation, carves the plaza along its length. The plaza is bordered with low walls, made of natural stone, in which wooden benches were placed, as well as wood pergolas with roof tiles, reminiscent of the first settler's houses and of the historical structure of the water tower. Project initiators: The Office of Tourism and the Jewish National Fund