Mariotti Building Demolished: From Historic Barracks to Urban Status
The old Mariotti building, a recycled barracks between via Padova and via Filanda, has been demolished. The walls have been replaced by piles of squared gray stone blocks from Brione, rebar, century-old wooden beams, and reinforced concrete pillars. A procession of large quarry trucks has erased it within a few days. Where the house once stood, there is now a flat, white expanse scarred by tank treads.
History and demolition of the building
Originally built as a barracks at the end of the 19th century, when Austria-Hungary fortified the empire’s southern border, it continued to house soldiers until the “rebaltòm,” that is, September 8, 1943: on that day, the colonel commanding the “Montecorno di Vallarsa” chose to let his men go home instead of regrouping and handing them over to the Germans, amid the disarray of the army’s leadership.
Within the building — a five-story main body with two side wings of four stories each — entered Roberto Zontini with his carpentry workshop. Perhaps it’s better to say he returned: the construction of the building was actually commissioned by Giovanni Zontini, who was also involved in building the forts in Brione.
Zontini stayed there until 1954, when he moved to the workshops he had meanwhile constructed on viale Rovereto, opposite the du Lac. Today, those workshops are occupied by Gentilini’s Alimentari spa. The Mariotti era began in the mid-1950s, reaching its peak when the industry employed a total of 130 workers.
Peak period and crisis
Under the leadership of Alfredo — a native of Perugia but present in Genoa with his company — Mariotti produced the best panforte in Italy. They used glued wooden slats covered with whole sheets of poplar or other types of wood. The company also produced plywood and wooden frames for ships.
In those late 1950s, Giacomo Lotti‘s business was building, across from Mariotti, the paper mill of the Veronese commendatore Legrenzi, which would become Cartiere del Garda. Back then, being an employee at Mariotti was a source of pride, seen as a mark of professionalism and a well-paid, secure job — especially in difficult years for everyone.
The death of the original owner, the likely diminished entrepreneurial capacity of the brother Orlando who inherited the plant, and the increasing dominance of plastic in markets sped up the crisis. From 1976 to 1979, to avoid closure, the workers — who had by then shrunk to about eighty — experimented with self-management: Augusto Martini was their president; surveyor Stirpe handled provincial matters, and Bruno Santi, who had recently stepped down as mayor, managed administrative tasks.
End of the industry and future of the area
After the panforte era, the company settled for assembling pallets — low value-added, low-skilled work. Three years later, the factory’s shadow extended to Atlas Holzwerke of South Tyrol’s Pichler, which established an industrial door manufacturing operation.
The building crisis and some production mistakes brought about the end: workers on layoff, emptied and abandoned workshops. What remains is a story from the recent past: the paper mill, hungry for space, bought the area, favoring the Province by enabling expansion eastward, at least with a warehouse.
The municipality and the province — representatives of different years and interests — later stopped the expansion plans. The Tribunal Administrativo Regionale (TAR) and the ongoing urban plan will now determine the future of this area.