Castiglione Castle Youth Center Nears Completion After €3 Billion Investment
The renovation work on the Castiglione Castle, in the part owned by the parish, is almost complete, and in March, the parish’s most important youth center is expected to reopen. It was the priest of the parish dedicated to Saints Nazario and Celso of Castiglione, don Marino Barbieri, who provided this update to his parishioners during the parish day.
Traditionally, for at least twenty years, the parish of Castiglione hosts a fundraising event during the first or second Sunday of Advent to finance the most important ongoing project. This year, during the jubilee year, the event took place last Sunday, when the parish priest took the opportunity to report to everyone attending Mass about the progress of the work and the administrative and financial aspects.
According to the parish priest, and simply by observing what has been done to the castle, the works are virtually completed.
Authorization process and progress of the work
As recalled, the authorization for the building permit for this intervention (restructuring the youth center and creating the new multipurpose hall) went through a rather troubled process, with some controversy over environmental restrictions that caused some concern in the parish.
Despite this, the work has proceeded swiftly, and the total cost of the project has reached three billion euros: “The work is nearly finished,” said don Marino Barbieri. “The total economic effort amounts to about three billion euros as planned.
Currently, the remaining steps mainly concern the approvals from the Superintendence, the Fire Brigade, and the Municipality. I believe that the center, which will mainly serve our youth but also adults and hopefully seniors, should be accessible in spring.
This is an important achievement for our parish, which has as its symbol the patron saint of youth, San Luigi Gonzaga. The Bishop is also closely following the work and is pleased with the progress.
Regarding the financial aspect, don Marino has asked parishioners for help to cover the entire expense: “Of the three billion euros, 2.4 billion has come from the sale of the Caravaggio legacy (the palace), and the rest from contributions obtained from the CEI. I hope that within ten years, with your help,” said don Marino Barbieri to his parishioners, “we will manage to raise the other 600 million euros.”