FORMIA – Only thanks to the timely and providential intervention of a citizen was the worst avoided on Wednesday afternoon in via Angelo Forte, in the populous hamlet of Maranola in Formia. By mere chance, the fall of some unsafe marble slabs forming the cornice of one of the buildings of greatest historical and architectural interest in Maranola and the entire city, the former “Casa del Beam”. The alarm that went off allowed the Fire Brigade (supported by the Local Police) to remove the marble slabs which, due to a guilty situation of abandonment and degradation in which the building finds itself, were about to fall into the area below where the post office and the entrance to the Maranola elementary school are located.
A tender never launched
Could this situation which has created a mix of alarm and concern have been avoided? According to the municipal and provincial councilor of the League Nicola Riccardelli, yes if something had not gone wrong at the Public Works and Maintenance Department of the municipality of Formia. Everything has been ready for four months but the last step is missing: the call for tenders. The municipality has taken out two mortgages, of approximately 400 and 200 thousand euros, but the (very beautiful) project prepared by the engineers Carlo Di Russo and Andrea Adipietro with the free support of the local sculptor Carlo De Meo is mysteriously stuck in a drawer. Why? Yet the opinion of the competent Superintendency had also been obtained, which is not easy for a prestigious property which will celebrate its first century of existence next year.
The project, for which the citizens of Forma are contributing to paying the interest to the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, effectively involves the redevelopment of the entire “Casa del Fascio” but also the insulation and waterproofing of its surface, which is nothing other than the equally historic Piazza Antonio Ricca. The Municipality had planned everything to restore the static testing and a look to the entire building which houses on the ground floor – as mentioned – one of the most important post offices in Formia (and on the first floor) the local senior center. But for years its visitors have been forced to use umbrellas to allow rainwater (and related humidity) to infiltrate even during normal atmospheric precipitation. And instead the tender, despite the entire procedure having been completed months ago, does not start amidst the disinterest and indifference of authoritative and influential city councilors who express the Forza Italia-Brothers of Italy majority.
Councilor Zangrillo’s comment
After learning of the arrival of the Fire Brigade and the Local Police in Piazza Ricca, the councilor for Public Works Eleonora Zangrillo tried to see the glass half full: “I’m happy with the fact that after I don’t know how many years the work is finally is financed and the project is ready.” But it doesn’t start and doesn’t take off, sending two deadlines into the attic – at least for the moment: the construction site for the redevelopment of the former “Casa del Fascio” should have closed its doors by the end of 2024 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Living Nativity of Maranola. But there’s more. The building has been monitored several times by the Monti Aurunci Regional Park body to materialize an ancient project prepared by the municipal administrations led by the late Senator Michele Forte and the former mayor Paola Villa: hosting its branch office or replacing the main and institutional one of Campodimele. The inexplicable stoppage of the works could bring to light another serious problem in the coming weeks: the future usability of the Maranola post office which is currently open to an exemption which is not infinite in time.
Councilor Riccardelli’s question
The only municipal and provincial councilor of the League Nicola Riccardelli has now announced a question to the mayor Gianluca Taddeo after the staircase connecting Piazza Antonio Ricca and Via Angelo Forte was closed in recent days with red and white tape. Had there already been any detachments of plaster and coverings? “I just have to point out how the mayor of Formia, on the occasion of the reopening of the Maranola post office, had issued precise statements, assuring that he had already found the funds for the Region for the refurbishment of the premises. But now he must tell a community why the redevelopment works of the former “Casa del Fascio”, designed, authorized and financed, have not yet started”. The European elections still have 40 days to go. There is therefore no shortage of time available.
PHOTOGALLERY
