School Expansion and Urban Planning Delays at Liceo Maffei

Jump ahead twelve months, to summer 2001, for the planned elevation of the liceo Maffei, now the third in recent years, a visually unappealing but necessary addition to accommodate the increasing number of classes. Already in the previous school year 1999-2000, four classes were hosted in the south pavilion of the Nino Pernici. This year, things aren’t expected to improve since enrollment continues to guarantee two new first-year classes for the pedagogical institute.

Last autumn, the province, which owns much of the building, announced its intention to elevate the new section, the one inaugurated six years earlier, which includes the auditorium and a language laboratory in the basement, along with ten regular classrooms spread over two upper floors. The plan was to add another floor to the new building, creating five additional classrooms and a new block of support facilities.

Project Timelines and Scheduling

A significant portion of the work was scheduled for the summer months—July and August—when, after the final exams and before the start of the new school year, the school is almost empty. Disruptions were expected to extend into the 2000-2001 year as well, given that at least five other classrooms—covering the entire second floor—would need to be relocated: impossible to operate normally with a construction site just above one’s head.

However, the construction tender process in recent months was not finalized: awarding the contract now, with August and its holidays already approaching, would mean starting simultaneously with the reopening of classes. Therefore, an agreement was made to postpone the work to next summer.

Urban Planning Changes and Green Spaces

Meanwhile, the approved PRG (urban development plan) will result in the removal of via Sant’Anna. In the new urban planning document, the footpath that runs along the old Rovereto-Riva train track is canceled, and that area will become green space serving the school, which is in dire need of it due to recent expansions—initially the gymnasium and now the new wing have consumed much of the original lawn space.

Perhaps the postponement could also facilitate urban planning reconsiderations: it’s curious that around the space-starved high school, there are two buildings—former Cinque Maggio and part of the Agrarian Association on viale Alberta Lutti—that are completely vacant and disused. The Agrarian Association has announced plans to relocate its cellar, oil mill, storage warehouse, and sales department to a new site on viale Trento. All in all, there’s congestion here, with little space left to breathe, and abundant space elsewhere that seems unwieldy.