Valeggio’s Palazzo Guarienti Restoration and Cultural Revival Plans

Recovering and restoring Palazzo Guarienti and restoring the municipal library to its former location: this project by the Administration has been included in the public works planning for 2001. The document shows an allocation of 300 million lire for the restoration of the Renaissance palace, which played a significant role in the history of Valeggio, not only because it hosted Napoleon at the end of the 18th century, but also because generations of Valeggiani passed through its walls: it was the seat of the vocational school and, until the early 1970s, of lower secondary schools.

Subsequently, it was restored and became the library’s headquarters from the early 1980s until 1995: at that point, it was transformed for a couple of years into the provisional municipal headquarters while waiting for the restoration of the building in Piazza Carlo Alberto. Since 1998, except for a brief school-related period as an emergency venue for some classes of the hospitality school, it has been used for cultural events. Will there be a revival now?

Projects and Opinions

“The intention is there,” declares Mayor Fausto Sachetto, “but we will have to wait for the budget to decide priorities because this is just one of several projects in progress. The designer will not only have to restore the Patriota building to full use, but also address existing issues with the Soprintendenza, which has never approved some solutions from the last restoration.”

And how to use the palace? “In the right wing, above the civic hall, with the library in which,” he responds, “we should ensure the possibility of using the rooms on the second floor and possibly those on the left side, while the other rooms would be made available to associations. Maintenance work on tuff stones and window frames, as well as the recovery of the internal courtyard, will also be necessary.”

Emma Catazzo, president of the library commission since 1995, during the period of relocation to a former clothing store where the municipality pays rent, praises the idea: “I have always thought that the natural location was Palazzo Guarienti and I accept the mayor’s commitment to bring us back there. Of course, since a new auditorium is about to be inaugurated in the old hospital, why not consider reutilizing the current civic hall, allowing users, young and old, to enter the library immediately?”

The mayor remains skeptical about this possibility: “I don’t know if the auditorium, designed mainly to serve the guests of the assisted healthcare residence, could also become a civic hall.”