SALERNO – «I can only say that it will be an innovative structure and that, I hope, you will like it». There is no way to get more indiscretions from Gino Zavanella, the archistar of sports facilities and stadiums (from the facilities that hosted the “magic nights” of the 1990 World Cup up to the Juventus Stadium) who the new Salerno sports hall was also designed. The official presentation of the new (and long awaited) sports facility is scheduled for next Monday at 11 at the Grand Hotel Salerno and, up to that moment, the password respected to the letters from the chief designer to the receptionist of the Gau Arena studio. (who won the design) is only one: no anticipation of what the new sports structure will be like. No previews and tight mouths, therefore, even if the official presentation should have been held last May. “We can’t anticipate anything,” architect Zavanella explains over the phone with extreme grace.
«We have great respect for the client who, among other things, in this case is the president of the Campania Region, Vincenzo De Luca. Extremely nice person but … ». In short, the possible ire of the governor about any drafts of the project are enough to impose the utmost rigor and absolute silence on Zavanella too. Yet, since yesterday morning, posters showing the rendering of the new Palazzetto have been circulating in the city and on Facebook. Certainly, as can be seen from the images, it will be an indoor facility which, effectively, recalls the Allianz Arena in Munich, just as President De Luca had asked for in recent months. For the rest, however, not much else is understood and the only design lines remain those indicated by the governor himself who asked for a capacity of at least 5 thousand spectators, that the Pala Salerno has an Olympic swimming pool inside and that it could be a space for sport but also for cultural and musical events.
Absolutely not negligible factor: the creation of a large parking area for cars, as well as a series of related services. In summary, the Campania number one clarified, this system “becomes a decisive infrastructure also for the tourist revitalization of the city and an opportunity to complete the urban redevelopment of the eastern coast”. There is, however, a big difference from what is written on the posters announcing the presentation of the project for the new plant for the beginning of next week. The new Sports Hall, in fact, is financed with 8.5 million euros (funds made available with the savings of the Universiade) and not with 27 million euros.
This maxi-figure, in fact, represents the total competed for the construction of the Palazzetto designed by the architect and designer Tobia Scarpa. The works for that pharaonic plant have also started but have been interrupted for many years, leaving in the extreme eastern area of Salerno, a few steps from the Arechi stadium and the port of Marina d’Arechi, a concrete skeleton in decay, a symbol of an unfinished work. A project that, on the other hand, was taken up from the drawer but with a decidedly lower endowment of funds also because Scarpa’s project had to be resized compared to the ideas that had been proposed for which practically all sports could be played inside the Pala Salerno. Now the project is no longer so mammoth and the funds available are lower. Perhaps, now, someone will have miscalculated …
Eleonora Tedesco