The news is one that will leave all Teramo people breathless, at least all those who care about the cultural destiny of the city: the TAR blames the municipal administration in the dispute over the eviction of the Sottosopra shop. This means that our Municipality, in addition to paying 700 thousand euros in damages, will have to deprive itself of the availability of the spaces occupied by Sottosopra and, therefore, block the renovation works on the theater until at least 2027; it also means that for another ten years Teramo will not have a theatre, a cinema, in short a place dedicated to shows. By now we Teramos have become accustomed to having nothing, or rather to seeing ourselves deprived of what we had: art gallery, archaeological museum, archaeological sites, cat museum, municipal theatre: all closed or dismantled or unusable. Because evidently we think that people from Teramo don’t need places for culture (just as, incidentally, they don’t need decently paved streets, they don’t need electric shuttles, they don’t need adequate squares and they don’t need street furniture). Our administration thinks that yes, only the announcements are needed. As in this case, in fact, for the municipal theater: the restoration was announced with great prominence, the project with a prestigious signature was presented, and, consequently, the cinema theater was closed to begin the works. And then? Then nothing: the tenant challenged the eviction order, the TAR ruled in his favor and… we’ll talk about it again in 2027. Until then, nothing: those who want to go to the theater will have to make do, go elsewhere, travel to places that host theaters or make unless, as it already does without everything else.
The question is: couldn’t we avoid closing if we weren’t sure we could use the entire building to carry out the work, if we didn’t know for sure that Sottosopra would return the premises? But how do you close everything for the start of work with such a serious unknown? Wouldn’t it be appropriate to only make true announcements, those that respond to reality, leaving aside triumphalism and easy, unmotivated enthusiasm? We in the League think so; we think that confusing desires and hopes with real events is harmful and disappointing for everyone and is above all unfair towards citizens who, deprived of everything, robbed of every space for culture, every urban quality, every possibility of planning and experience cultural events, they also see themselves adding insult to injury, as in this case.
Berardo Rabuffo
Tags: Culture balance Teramo TAR decides Municipality theater closed
