MASSA-CARRARA – “A success linked to the institutional team” claims the Prefect Guido Aprea, announcing the good news together with the deputy Alessandro Amorese and the president of the Province Gianni Lorenzetti. Palazzo Ducale will be freed from the bars of the ‘perennial’ scaffolding that have been holding it hostage for years now and this thanks to the funding of 5.066 million euros that will arrive from the Ministry of Culture. The sum will allow the restyling of Palazzo Rosso, seat of the Prefecture and the Province: starting from the gutters, to the facades, to the fixtures and electrical systems.
The key step in this success, which will allow the recovery of one of the most beautiful historic buildings in the area and its return to the city in the most complete way, was the recognition of the building as being of particular cultural interest. “The State Region Conference has given a positive opinion” Amorese reports the news with a certain pride. And this was the piece that was missing and which opened the doors to the inclusion of Palazzo Rosso in the special projects financed by the Ministry chaired by Gennaro Sangiuliano.
“On Thursday 2 May the State Region Conference expressed a positive opinion regarding the provisions of law 83 of 2014 on the Artbonus, ‘Urgent provisions for the protection of cultural heritage, the development of culture and the relaunch of tourism’. With the approval of the strategic plan for major projects linked to cultural heritage and with the planning of resources for the year 2024, we are proud to be able to say that in these major special projects at the level of cultural heritage, in the call for which throughout Italy, there is the Palazzo Ducale with a loan of 5.066 million. There was a need for this – Alessandro Amorese smiles satisfied in the conference which took place in one of the precious rooms of the palace – think that every now and then the Prefect tells me that he has to wake up at night to close the windows during stormy evenings” .
The deputy recalled the long journey to reach this outcome, which began a year and a half ago with an interview obtained by him, Aprea and Lorenzetti with the chief technical secretary of the Ministry and with Minister Sangiuliano, preparatory to the visit of Minister Sangiuliano himself, last year, “during which we showed him the beauty of the building,” Amorese reported.
“There are two streets, in particular via Guidoni, which have suffered greatly from these conditions in which Palazzo Ducale finds itself – the Apuan deputy recalled the difficulties of the businesses in those city streets –, the degradation of these eternal scaffoldings. The next steps will therefore be the decree of Minister Sangiuliano, the formality of the Court of Auditors and finally the executive project. Then we will finally leave.”
“It is probably the most important cultural asset of the province for its history and for what it represents today: seat of the Prefecture and the Province – Gianni Lorenzetti took the floor – My heartfelt thanks go to the Honorable Amorese and to Mr. Prefect. This is a success due to a will that has been missing for years – Lorenzetti underlined with determination – and which could not have happened without an intervention of this type and strength. I have been president of the Province of Massa-Carrara for 8 years – he recalled – and you know that I became president at the worst possible moment, when the resources were not there. There was an attempt to find 500 thousand euros which we were then unable, despite the tender, to complete because the company had not been able to continue with the work. This is to say how strong the Province’s commitment has always been, but without a commitment like this at our side, we would not have been able to achieve this objective. That the Ducal Palace is in this condition is not a day, it is a wound and in all these years no one has ever taken an interest – he repeated -. Thanks therefore go to the Honorable Amorese who is at the forefront of all issues that concern our community, but thanks also go to my offices because if we managed to obtain this result it is because we had an executive project: if you want the money you must have a project and it is proof that the Province has always believed in the need to renovate the building. And then we went further, because we won’t just fix the gutters, despite the increase in prices: the 5 million euros will also allow us to fix other things: first and foremost the fixtures and systems. We will not have a bottom-to-bottom race – assured Gianni Lorenzetti -. It is a wounded building and I hope that at the end of my mandate in March 2026, in these 2 years, I will be able to see it returned to the city. Thanks for the synergy. The city won, the citizens won. So thanks to the Honorable Amorese, to the Prefect of the offices. At this point there will be an implementation of the already existing project, work will not only be done on the gutters, but on facades, fixtures, windows and systems. Then there will be a public tender in which specialized companies will be able to participate. If we are good and there are no problems, we will get to the tender by the end of the year, and we will have the start of work in 2025″.
Both Lorenzetti, who had already expressed this desire at the time, and Amorese therefore agreed, once the building had been recovered, to make it more usable and organize it logistically in order to find more spaces to dedicate to culture.
“The offices of the Prefecture are not always cultural assets and there is not always the interest of all the institutions in improving and valorising them – commented Guido Aprea, also bringing greetings from Dr. Angela Acordon, the Superintendent who will follow the work step by step -. We have always tried to make it live as much as possible with events and displays, we open to the public and the city as soon as possible. But something was always missing: the possibility of making the best use of this cultural asset structural. Thanks go to the Minister. Also in this case – he underlined – the unity and teamwork of the institutions won. By remaining united, cohesive and compact we can achieve the best results.”
“I’m adding a theme – Alessandro Amorese announced another novelty – I will give a conference at the State Archives because the building will receive significant funding from the Ministry of Culture. As you know, it has been acquired and is now public property and has, as is known, structural problems.”
