The new $18 million Helmsley Charitable Trust Interdisciplinary Science Center (Center) is the latest and most prominent building on HAC’s campus. The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust was established from the proceeds of the legendary New York real estate empire created by the Helmsleys starting in the 1930s. The Trust, with assets of some $6 billion, is a generous and major benefactor of a wide range of Israeli institutions in the areas of healthcare and higher education.

The six-story building, which rises above HaNevi’im Street, a main downtown Jerusalem thoroughfare, blends in with its traditional, stone-clad neighbors, while inside it is thoroughly modern. The Center provides HAC with urgently needed classroom and seminar space for more than 1,500 students. The Center also contains a 300-seat auditorium, made possible by a generous gift from the Nathan Anne Kim & Julian Geller Foundation, enables HAC to hold major events. The six-floor study center, a gift of the Michael A. and Andrea Leven Foundation, is a long-awaited open space that inspires students and visitors alike with panoramic views of the Jerusalem skyline.

The Helmsley Center is also making a major contribution to Jerusalem’s culture life. The Azrieli Gallery, prominently located on the Center’s ground floor, displays creations by students and alumni of The DAN Department of Creative Human Design and HAC’s Department of Photographic Communication, as well as that of local artists. The Gallery is a gift of the Azrieli Foundation (Canada), in partnership with the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada, and has become the largest public art space available for new exhibits in downtown Jerusalem.