Terni: San Lucio disappears to be reborn. Demolition begins

23 Apr 2024 09:38

The redevelopment of the San Lucio district – also known in Terni as ‘Shanghai’ – officially began on Monday morning with the demolition intervention by the companies holding the Pnrr contract worth over 12 million euros (between funds Europeans, the Umbria Region and the Municipality of Terni) awarded in recent months by ‘Ater’. We started with the demolition of the central building, which will then be followed by those of the two lateral complexes, in view of the subsequent rebuilding which, called ‘Terni: regenerating San Valentino’, also received the ‘Urban Planning Award’ at ‘Urban Promo 2030 ‘, an event that was celebrated last November in Florence. The owners of the restyling are the Terni companies Picone Costruzioni Srl and Italstem Spa. The result of a research agreement between Ater Umbria and the DAStU department of the Polytechnic of Milan for architectural, urban, social and environmental regeneration, the project involves the demolition of the three buildings and the reconstruction of two buildings, for a total of 33 homes. There will also be rooms on the ground floor for activities of public interest, such as studio apartments and for social or commercial activities. A large underground car park will be built for around 50 cars and the road layout will be redeveloped. The possibility of establishing community housing for people with disabilities has been envisaged. According to the study by the Polytechnic of Milan, the area has a particular urban planning condition because it is a sort of ‘island’, reachable only by two bridges. It cannot be crossed by chance and, perhaps also for this reason, it has suffered a state of crisis and abandonment for several years. The project instead has the objective of rebuilding a real neighborhood with a plurality of activities, spaces for relationships and sociality, also with new plantings to strengthen the quality of the spaces.

Shared satisfaction

The regional councilor for public works and residential construction is enthusiastic, Enrico Melasecche, according to which «Terni has waited for over twenty years for this intervention which, thanks also to the direct commitment of the Umbria Region and Ater, can now finally see the light and redevelop an area of the city that has remained on the margins for too long, degraded. The entire neighborhood that revolves around the Basilica of the Patron Saint will benefit from all this, a tourist attraction that deserves a context that speaks of sociality, development, decorum and quality of buildings.” Words echoed by those of the municipal councilor for public works, Giovanni Maggi: «We fully supported and shared this intervention, making the properties available, which are municipal property, and offering all the necessary support through our offices. We agree with it because not only does it bring into play a series of no longer usable dwellings, in their place which will be replaced by 33 modern ones in line with housing needs, but – observes councilor Maggi – a series of commercial activities will be created, also fixing the surrounding decay. The intervention, moreover, fits fully into the intervention that the Municipality of Terni is carrying out, through a mutual agreement with the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, in the building adjacent to the redevelopment one. Work is underway there for the construction of 16 homes, which will be completed by 2024 and then assigned based on the ranking published on Monday. Through the same ranking, the 33 apartments in San Lucio and 6 that Cesi’s Pnrr project will create in Palazzo Stocchi will also be assigned.”