Ashdod Performing Arts Center, Contemporary theatre in Ashdod, Israel

The Ashdod Performing Arts Center is a 6,600-square-metre venue in the Kiryat HaTarbut complex, designed by architect Haim Dotan and opened in 2012. Its shape resembles two joined seashells or waves, which residents often compare to a whale. The steel frame was assembled on site within weeks; the main hall seats 938, with 624 in the lower section, and the stage measures 14 by 14 metres.

The center was completed in 2012 and emerged as a new cultural venue for the city. With its opening, Ashdod gained a significant infrastructure for professional artistic performances.

The center presents theater productions, concerts, and dance performances that shape the cultural life of the city. Visitors can experience different forms of artistic expression in one venue.

The center stands in the Zvi Zilker cultural quarter, reached from the coastal boulevard; two parking garages serve it, one at ground level on HaBanim Street with a path flanked by wall waterfalls and fish ponds, and one underground with two colorful elevators rising on either side of the City Square. The main hall seats 938, including eight wheelchair places in the lower section.

The building was planned to be called Heichal HaTzvi after mayor Zvi Zilker, but the Israel Lottery Commission, which funded much of the construction, refused, so it opened as the Pais Ashdod Performing Arts Center. Locals also say the two joined shells resemble a whale.