Pai Parish Church Restoration Nears Completion, Needs 50 Million Lire

Another fifty million lire is needed to finally complete all the restoration work of the parish church in the frazione of Pai. These are, by the counts, the funds required for bringing the electrical system up to standard, currently in the planning stage, and for the interior painting of the sixteenth-century church, dedicated to the patron saint San Marco. Overlooking the lake with a breathtaking view, the San Marco church has been undergoing significant monument restoration and comprehensive refurbishment for about four years.

Status of the Works and Contributions

“So far,” explained the Assessor for Social Policies and member of Pai’s pastoral council Rita Menapace, “much has been accomplished. Thanks to contributions and efforts primarily from the Pai population, and also from the municipal administration and all those, such as tourists and holidaymakers, who have wished to show concrete signs of support for the church, we have managed to raise and spend more than sixty million lire.” In fact, all the plasters and the external façade, including the restoration and cleaning of the external structures, were completed some time ago.

Currently, the safety compliance of the boiler and the heating plant, which are now dangerously outdated, inefficient, and antiquated, is nearing completion. The last twenty million lire—more or less—will be spent from the funds allocated to the restoration council.

Upcoming Interventions and Other Contributions

“A great achievement,” continued Menapace, “both for the parish priest Don Giovanni Andreoli, for all the parishioners of Pai, and for the town’s history and culture, but it still isn’t enough.” Despite the recent arrival of a thirty-million-lire contribution from the Foundation of the Cassa di Risparmio di Verona exclusively for “the restoration of artistic accessories and interior decorations of the parish church,” approximately fifty million lire—including VAT—are still missing for the last two projects: the electrical system and the interior painting.

“But at this point,” Menapace added, “we really don’t know where to head next.” Over the past year, Pai’s children, through Christmas shop sales, First Communions and Confirmations at the end of March, Easter, and many other occasions, have collected donations for the church.

Moreover, the population of Pai, the Alpini, the holidaymakers, and the municipal administration led by Alberto Vedovelli with a contribution of thirty million lire, have helped the seventy-nine-year-old Don Giovanni in these restoration efforts. Nothing, however, has come from the Curia of Verona.

“At this point,” concluded the assessor, “we are thinking of sending an additional letter of awareness to the entire town of Torri and asking for renewed help from the municipal administration, even though it has already done a lot. But even more so, the people of Pai have done a lot.”