Salò Citizens Seek Referendum on Amadei Stadium Sale and Public Projects

“We submitted 1,268 signatures of people opposed to the sale of the Amadei sports field to the municipality. Now we are awaiting the decisions of the municipal administration regarding the referendum”, states Sergio Turri Zanoni, from the Committee that coordinated the collection.

At this point, what could happen? “The statute of Salò provides for an advisory referendum on issues of general importance that concern the community. It is excluded in matters of budget and taxes, expropriation for public utility, constitution or participation in consortia, special companies, and societies”. Besides collecting signatures from at least one-tenth of registered voters, approval (by majority) from the municipal council is also required.

All set, then? No. There is a clause that states: “The regulation governs the procedures for collecting and authenticating signatures, and for conducting voting operations”. And here lies the issue. In Salò, the regulation does not exist, and citizen signatures have been authenticated by a city councilor, following the rules for candidate list submission in elections.

Will that be enough? While waiting for a decision, opposition parties proposed a series of amendments, rejected by the majority of the Polo coalition. The most significant concerned the Amadei stadium itself. “Since the aim is to sell it to generate four billion lire to be invested in public works” — said Mauro Ventura, an independent — “we suggest saving by canceling the following four projects: the parking lot at Carmine, which would create 37 spaces (minus 12 already existing); the Palafrate in Barbarano, which is not a priority and could be included in the Rimbalzello recovery plan; the study for restructuring the southern zone and upgrading public lighting. Why spend money again on via Butturini, where the system has just been renovated?”.

Positions and Proposals

For Renato Cobelli, from the Ppi area, “alternative solutions to selling family jewels must be found”. According to the Democratic Party member Vincenzo Zambelli, “there is a lack of an asset disposal plan with an inventory of the assets and priorities for the properties and areas to be sold”. Zambelli announced an appeal to the Tar. The public works councilor, Bernardo Berardinelli, responded that, regarding the Carmine square, a comprehensive enhancement project exists, not limited to the ground-level parking lot.

The Barbarano Arena had also been planned by previous administrations; the operational framework plan, to be drafted, is more comprehensive than the old Pio designed by architects Demetrio Costantino and Vittoriano Viganò. It assesses not only the lakeside Rive area but also the upstream area up to the cemetery. Public lighting remains inadequate.

“The planned disposals will be carried out,” assured Mayor Giampiero Cipani, who will soon promote a public meeting on the future of the old stadium. An interesting detail: documents from the archive show that the field was purchased by the municipality through a regular transaction. It was not a donation. The deed, drafted by notary Giacomo Frera on March 21, 1934 (“Year XII of the Fascist era”), stamped with five and seven lire marks, reveals that the municipality paid by selling another parcel of land.

Historical Documents and Technical Details

Here is the text: “In order to respond to the repeated and insistent desires of the youth to have an area for freely practicing their sports exercises, the municipality of Salò, in agreement with the Opera Nazionale Balilla, and with the help of the local population, which has already subscribed a significant sum, is finalizing negotiations for the purchase”. At the bottom are the signatures of Cavalier Alessandro Belli, Podestà, Carlo Amadei, owner of «Cedral Tassoni», and chairman of the municipal committee of Opera Nazionale Balilla (to which, even today, the stadium is dedicated), and a private citizen who ceded the area.

“As consideration for the contract — the document continues — the sum of ten thousand lire is established.”