The resignation came for health reasons. The next president will be appointed by the city council. Benedino: “We need an economic sustainability plan, the junta expresses itself”
IVREA. Roberto Battegazzorre officially resigned as president of the Guelpa Foundation on Monday 28 June. He did it to tackle a minor health problem, resulting from an operation that at a crucial moment for the Foundation did not allow him to take care of the many business to be done in the best possible way. «We have two important appointments: the call for a new secretary with a more administrative cut, which will be published soon, given that the current one, Manuela Mondino, who has a part-time contract, will expire on 18 August. Then in September the auditor, Dr. Pino Barra, will also expire and we will have to look for another figure ».
Battegazzorre leaves at a delicate moment, in which the Foundation risks going towards a rapid exhaustion or a new mission. «In these two years – he explains – we have dedicated ourselves to our three tasks: the management of the heritage left by Mrs. Guelpa, the strengthening of the museum and the library and the support for cultural activities. The moment I entered there was a collapse of the financial markets, but we still managed to leave the capital of 7.5 million intact, because it was well managed and generated 5 million in interest. We have contributed to dozens of local businesses. The perception, however, was that the flow was running out. So we decided on a significant allocation for the modernization and expansion of the library. In all we have invested five million, of which 1.7 for the refurbishment of the fire and the demolition of the former Cena, as already resolved. Another 3.3, on the other hand, are the reserve dedicated to expansion with a parallel intervention by the municipality. Now we are at the planning stage ».
The legacy of Battegazzorre, therefore, is the change of paradigm, with bipartisan appreciation. “It is a pity for the person Battegazzorre – explains the former councilor for Culture and councilor of the Democratic Party Andrea Benedino -, who enjoyed unanimous esteem by the city council. But now we have to decide: the council must express itself, the Foundation is certainly not eternal. For several years it has lived in times of lean cows, we cannot continue to use it to finance events, but it must become a lever to obtain funding in the area. We need an economic sustainability plan ».
Hypothesis that has not escaped, in this period, even the now former president of the Foundation. “We have spent a lot of time studying the future – explains Battegazzorre -. We managed to make a call in collaboration with the Lavazza Foundation. But in reality, in order for it to become an attractor of funds there is a need for a concrete operational structure and the management of cultural structures, even if not their own “.
And now we just have to throw ourselves into the cultural pole project. Not before, of course, having elected the next president: who will not be appointed by the mayor but by the entire city council as per the recent statutory amendment.