Favorable opinion from the third advisory commission (16 in favour, 9 abstentions) on the proposal for a territorial agreement for the expansion of Rimini Fair and the agreed building permit for the construction of temporary pavilions that can host the scheduled trade fair events in the short term.
The passage to the commission represents the first step of the administrative process which, once completed, will put the Italian Exhibition Group company in a position to proceed with infrastructural investments aimed at increasing the spaces of the exhibition center (+26 thousand square meters of total surface area) for the possibility of further growth at leading trade fairs.
The territorial agreement proposal examined by the Commission replaces the previous agreement signed by the Municipality and Province in August 2020 which provided for an increase in the overall surface area of 30,000 m2 to be developed on the east side of the existing pavilions. An agreement which was then not followed up, due to the Covid emergency and the consequent great uncertainty about the prospects of the sector on an international scale that accompanied that phase.
Once the most critical phase of the pandemic emergency has passed and with the resumption of trade fair activities, Ieg has reported as owner the need to expand the exhibition spaces in relation to the growing development of the events, presenting a new request for settlement development, containing substantial modifications and additions compared to the contents of the previous Territorial Agreement.
The proposed territorial agreement provides for an expansion of 26,000 m2 of total surface area in addition to the existing one (approximately 166,0001 m2), accompanied by a development of possible functions, also opening up to recreational and entertainment functions to be held outdoors. A line of development that coincides with the project presented by Ieg for the construction of the new circular arena, the dome with an estimated capacity of 20 thousand people which will allow it to host a variety of events.
Rimini Fair: motorway toll booth and new car parks
The new proposal evaluates possible expansions not only on the east side, currently considered no longer responsive to the development needs of the exhibition center, but also includes other areas.
A new perspective that takes into account both the existing residential settlements and the strengthening of accessibility and traffic of the entire urban quadrant in which the Fair takes place, in light of the projects on which the Administration, IEG and other bodies are working. They range from the extension of the Metromare from the station to the exhibition centre, with the construction sites starting in the next few weeks, to the variant to the State Road 16, up to the project that will be presented by Ieg for the construction of a motorway toll booth to be built a few hundred meters from the entrance to the Fair, in order to create a direct connection for exhibitors and visitors.
To this end, a meeting has already been requested with Autostrade and the Region to delve deeper into the planning of the work.
Among the objectives envisaged by the agreement, also the increase in parking facilities, also with the aim of intermodal exchange and the environmental qualification of the territorial area in which the exhibition center is located, with particular attention to ecological facilities and the minimization or mitigation of the impacts associated with its presence.
The act discussed today in the commission also includes the proposal to issue a building permit in derogation to allow IEG to proceed with an initial expansion in the short term through the installation of temporary pavilions, to be made available as early as autumn .
