Riva and Trento Dispute Over Cultural Heritage and Portico Closures

The ongoing dispute between Riva Municipality and Province of Trento regarding the glass closures of the porticoes in Piazza Tre Novembre has escalated into a national issue after Trento Administrative Court (Tar di Trento), a couple of weeks ago, decided to appeal to Superintendent of Cultural Heritage of Lazio, architect Costantino Centroni, seeking an unbiased expert opinion. Riva Municipality, on its part, accepts the challenge and responds with Michelangelo Lupo.

The dispute over the porticoes and the involvement of cultural authorities

The controversy began when the municipality initiated the removal of the structures that had been illegally added over the years in the square. To achieve the dismantling peacefully and without undue force (which is always problematic when a municipality tries to confront a reluctant and protected private party), the municipality promised to permit the closing of the fifteenth-century porticoes, which are used by restaurateurs as open and protected winter patios. The plan for the new glass enclosures is signed by Bernard Winkler, but the provincial authorities are not pleased.

An hotel operator, trusting the municipality, shortens the process and proceeds exactly as agreed with the city council. As he should not have done: provincial authorities swiftly reprimand him, as if he were a common criminal. The municipality cannot accept this insult and appeals to the Tar against the province.

The involvement of judges and appointed experts

The administrative judges, in their initial ruling, determine that they need an expert opinion to decide whether the work authorized by the municipality conflicts with the harmony of the architectural complex. The Tar appoints a consultant for the case, and makes a significant choice: the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage of Lazio, a nationally recognized authority, as an expert witness.

Riva, for its part, does not give up and commissions architect Michelangelo Lupo to prepare a counterargument. It is likely that the Cultural Heritage Authorities of the province will choose an expert for their side. But isn’t the same Molinari, who oversees the affairs of the Trentino assessorate, the one who, as mayor of Riva, approved similar portico closures?