Brescia Superintendence Proposes Land Restrictions Amid Urban and Hospital Concerns

The news comes at the end. After hours of discussion, unexpectedly, as most people’s attention is waning and their minds are reading and rereading the list of previously discussed topics. “The Brescia Superintendence,” says the mayor of Gardone Riviera, Alessandro Bazzani, “has informed us that a request has been made to make a strip of green land at the border with Vittoriale unbuildable. This concerns part of the Traina area, better known as Lucchini property. Any observations must be sent within thirty days. The restriction will be decided by the Ministry of Culture.” In other words, a hurdle for private interests.” The city council always reserves the final word (or the poison?) on the matter.

At the last point, in fact, the discussion shifts to current affairs. So, after the approval of the preliminary budget, here are the most interesting issues. The Traina area, then. The Lucchini property. It could become “unbuildable.” Why? To frame the matter, a detailed background is necessary. The old general town plan, approved in 1986 and amended in 1992, anticipated significant increases in volume. In March 1997, a variant was approved by the city council (designed by architect Giovanni Cigognetti, then mayor of Salò), which was later returned in 1999 by the Region, with the request for a series of modifications. Someone had suggested rejecting it. “No, no,” Bazzani noted at the time, “it’s better to keep it.” The reason? “In the case of conflicting provisions between the current master plan and the latest variant adopted, the more restrictive regulation prevails.” And so it was.

Industrialist Luigi Lucchini, former president of Confindustria, and the société en commandite simple “Gardasee,” managed by his son-in-law Michele Baietti, had the right to build 26,000 cubic meters: 18,000 for a hotel-residence, 4,000 for a condominium, and another 4,000 for a traditional hotel. The administration led by Piercarlo Belotti agreed on a reduction, halving the volume: 9,000 residential cubic meters and 4,000 hotel cubic meters, totaling 13,000. However, the Pirelli Foundation later rejected the residential part (“due to its location next to Vittoriale and its particular morphology”), authorizing only the 4,000 cubic meters, to be placed between an altitude of 120 and 130 meters above sea level. At present, this last indication remains valid.

Now, the proposal from the Superintendence is to restrict the entire strip close to Vittoriale.

Issues related to the hospital and education

The second topic discussed openly: the closure of the Santa Corona hospital in Fasano, where cardiological rehabilitation services are provided. “We’ve learned from local newspapers that it might move to Roè Volciano,” comments the mayor. “This is the forecast included in the three-year plan approved by the Regione Lombardia. We absolutely cannot accept the transfer. Therefore, I consider an urgent meeting with Dr. Lucio Mastromatteo, director of the Civil Hospital of Brescia, which Fasano depends on.”

In the past, the villa estate, with its splendid lakeside garden, was used as a summer colony: a pediatric prevention center for rheumatic diseases. It became a hospital in 1965 (the Santa Corona, precisely), attached to the Civil Hospital in 1978. The last renovation was in 1996, with the creation of a small wing and a parking lot for 25 cars on the upper plate, along with improved sanitary facilities. It offers around one hundred beds (two male wards, one female ward, and some single rooms with hotel-like amenities). Similarly, the staff numbers around 35: ten doctors and 35 professional nurses.

Throughout a year, the hospital sees about 2,500-2,600 admissions: about one thousand for heart attacks, the same number for bypass surgeries, and 500 for valve replacements. Most patients come from Lombardy, although Ligurian and Venetian patients are also present. In 1999, when asked about the risk of Fasano’s closure, Mastromatteo responded: “Concerns are unfounded. We intend to adapt the range of services to meet citizens’ needs. In this context, Santa Corona is destined to integrate into the cardio-thoracic department, given its long-standing specialization in cardiac rehabilitation of infarct patients and heart disease sufferers. To this end, we plan to convert 15 beds, which are currently underused, into respiratory rehabilitation beds for patients from surgery.” However, after the approval of the new hospital plan, Bazzani fears that the facility might be closed.

Risks and proposals for education

The third topic: the proposal by the “Battisti” Technical Institute of Salò to open a tourism high school. “We are concerned,” the mayor admits. “In Gardone, there is a professional hotel institute. We would not want it to be harmed by such competition. The Caterina de’ Medici school, among others, has seen an increase in enrollments for 2001/2002, to the extent that they have requested some classrooms from nearby middle schools.”