Brescia and Montichiari consider new football stadiums amid infrastructural debate
A new football stadium? Better two. A new sports facility for football is urgently needed right now. And if, in the near future, there are two, all the better. Many in Montichiari have been thinking this way since Brescia Calcio began considering building a Serie A stadium in the Montichiari area. The debate that has opened up isn’t so much about the opportunity to replace the 25,000-seat Rigamonti stadium in the capital of Bassa with a new one; the question is whether to build immediately the stadium already decided for local football (with a first team playing in Serie C2 and a youth sector of about 250 players including youth and very young players: on Wednesday, the project will be presented to the City Council) or if it makes more sense to negotiate with Gino Corioni for the shared use of a facility that will cost no less than 80 billion lire.
Reactions and institutional projects
“It seems absurd not to take into account the new situation that has arisen,” says Riccardo Tosoni, councilor for the Populars in Montichiari and former Sports assessor. “In Verona, Reggio Emilia, and Bergamo, the main stadiums are used by various local football clubs. Let’s not forget that managing a stadium like the one the local administration wants to build in Montichiari costs almost one and a half million lire per day. The fear is that ultimately, nothing will be done.”
The current Sports assessor, Gian Maria Pastorelli, assures: “The municipal stadium will be built: its economic plan and related public tender will soon be presented to the Council,” and dismisses the accusations of “stifling the municipal stadium” made by Tosoni and the opposition parties, Ppm and Ds.
Giulio Bertolini, representative of the Ds in the city council, is very skeptical: “I am not in favor of this tender to be entrusted to private companies. If it is built, let it be a large and beautiful one, so that both Brescia and Montichiari can play there.” However, the majority in the council (Lega and Forza Italia) seem to be convinced to proceed in the right direction, helped by the unpostponable need of AC calcio Montichiari.
Sports and infrastructural necessities
“We cannot keep sending our boys to train in Remedello or Acquafredda,” says General Manager Osvaldo Olivari. “The costs are significant. We need new training fields immediately. While waiting for the new stadium, we might get a one-year extension from Lega Calcio for the old Romeo Menti.”
If Brescia then builds a new stadium in the Fascia d’Oro area, with multifunctional and entertainment facilities, that would be welcome — affirm Giuseppe Visconti, coordinator of Forza Italia, and Renato Ferrari, president of volley Montichiari. “The important thing is that we start building our stadium near the Palageorge for now.”
No problems of coexistence between teams, says Sergio Pironi, president of Montichiari (“although I find it strange that Corioni would come to build in our area”), nor for Mayor Gianantonio Rosa (“ready to discuss it when concrete and precise proposals are made: we are waiting”), nor for the Province president, Alberto Cavalli (“disposed to intervene with subsidiarity actions”).
The difficulty remains for Brescia to acquire the land necessary for the mega stadium, 500,000 square meters, because the municipality does not own land in Fascia d’Oro, to build a stadium comparable to the one being developed in Cagliari (designed, as this one is hypothesized, by Brescia architects Abba and Marai). “Montichiari’s needs do not conflict with those of Brescia,” observes designer Abba, “but it is unlikely that the Rondinelle and Rossoblù will end up playing in the same stadium.”
Today, Serie A is another planet: before choosing the areas and acquiring them, we need to understand where it’s possible to build the structures for entertainment to go along with the new Rigamonti.” Essential structures, more than just complementary: without multiplex cinemas, hotels, gyms, and discopubs, the stadium project isn’t worth it.
This week, Corioni will meet with Paolo Corsini and Giuseppe Onofri, mayor and deputy mayor of Brescia. The hypotheses under consideration are Brescia, Ospitaletto, and Montichiari (the latter seems favored: in the area, there are no Oz multiplexes or Porte Franche…).
In the end, and regardless of the territorial constraints (Brescia’s stadium cannot be built in Darfo or Edolo), market forces will decide. Market investigations are already underway. “In Cagliari,” says Abba, “we proposed entertainment facilities to the Administration because we knew that private operators were ready to manage them. Probably, the same will happen for Brescia’s stadium.”