Cremona Institute Renovation Plans Presented for Lakeside Hotel & Community Use
Yesterday morning, at Palazzo Benamati di Maderno, the executive project for the renovation of the Istituto Cremonese was presented, drafted by a team of technicians led by engineer Franco Apollonio.
Description of the area and buildings
The area, covering 8,500 square meters, is situated in a stunning location on the lakeside, next to the former horse racing track. There are one thousand square meters of covered space, with a total volume of nearly eleven thousand cubic meters. The main building, with 8,800 cubic meters, is now in dilapidation; it is spread over six floors and features a large terrace.
In the past, after serving as a hotel (Bristol), it housed children at risk of lung infections and the children of patients hospitalized in sanatoria. For some time, it has also been an illegal refuge for drug addicts and the homeless.
The site also includes a two-story building used for quarantine purposes, the caretaker’s cottage, the service block, a building designated for visiting family members, and the rustic structure used for the summer dining hall.
The garden and vegetation
The garden covers 7,500 square meters, with a lakeshore frontage of 120 meters. It features one hundred sixty trees: firs, laurels, apricots, persimmons, Lebanese cedars, cypress trees, magnolias, loquats, oleanders, olive trees, palms, Maremma pines, plum trees, rhododendrons, and linden trees.
History and current use
In September 1980, the Antitubercular Consortium donated the entire property to the Province of Cremona, which later unsuccessfully attempted to sell it at auction.
Subsequently, the focus shifted to a solution where the structure would be leased free of charge (for 99 years) to the Sospiro Hospital Authority, which, in a location about a dozen kilometers from the city of Torrazzo, hosts 750 elderly non-autonomous individuals, disabled persons, and those suffering from mental health issues, among others.
It has more than six hundred employees. The town planning plan of Toscolano Maderno allows for volumetric increases of approximately three thousand cubic meters. The renovation costs are estimated at eleven billion euros.
Construction timeline and impact
Execution time is estimated at around two years. Afterwards, it will be possible to accommodate about seventy patients (disabled, elderly, etc.): they will spend three to four weeks on vacation by the lake, rotating, for eleven months each year.
Between nurses, educators, physiotherapists, and others, approximately fifty operators are expected to find employment. “The hospital authority’s administrators are currently tendering the contract,” explains Mayor Paolo Elena.
They expect to begin work in the first months of the new year. Present at the event were, among others, the mayor of Sospiro, Giovanni Scotti, and the president of ANCI regionale, Giuseppe Torchio.
Past projects and future prospects
Several groups, including the Lega delle cooperative, had their eyes on the Istituto Cremonese, which has been abandoned for nearly thirty years. A private company from Trento and Verona considered creating a hotel reserved for the elderly.
However, ultimately, considering the constraints (number of beds, inability to acquire the property outright, relatively limited volumetric increase), only the option of a lease transfer from the Province of Cremona to Sospiro remained, with Riccardo Piccioni—who is also a member of the board of the Fondazione Bravi di Barbarano—being involved.
“It’s an initiative,” – emphasizes Elena – “that we have always supported very favorably. Beyond the employment aspect, it will have ripple effects on the local economy. I am referring to shops, hotels, restaurants, and retailers. The benefits for our community are significant.”
On the other hand, the idea of constructing a nearby three-story building, each floor covering 500 square meters, to house a medical clinic, a social center, and eight or nine apartments, was abandoned.
