Pitch

The project we’ve chosen deals with the restoration of the "Ex Convento dei Padri Minori Osservati... da destinare a Palazzo dei Musei". From the site Opencoesione, we have found out that 90% (3.388.623,18€) of the cohesion funds (€ 3,762,969.19) has been paid and the project is still ongoing (even if the municipality technicians claim that the restoration is completed). The payments started in 2017- two years after the planned starting date with 3% in 2018 30% was paid, the next year they reached about 60%, 80% in 2020 and 90% this year. Of all the money that was paid, 75% comes from the European Union, 17% comes from the Region and the last 8% comes from the Revolving Fund.  From the monitoring visit we could witness that the building has been completely restored.

At this point, the aim of our team, The Value of Art, is to force the Beneficiary, Comune di Vibo Valentia, to create a museum inside the building, as soon as possible and to improve art and culture in our territory. Specifically, our intention, is to suggest the installation of an interactive multimedia museum, so as to appeal people of all ages. Moreover, from the survey we have held, we learnt that the presence of this type of museum would be appreciated in our city, where art and culture are not promoted enough. The advantage of this kind of structures is that they are also accessible to people with reduced mobility or sensor disabilities, ensuring the presence of lifts and accessible programs for blind people and those with low vision as well as for deaf people.

The four lessons of the ASOC programme were very useful, they represented a valuable trail for our research. So, starting from lesson one we focused on choosing a project worth to be monitored. That was an amazing discovery as we didn’t imagine so much money from the European Fund had been spent on our territory.  Another significant phase of our research was in Lesson 2, when we had the opportunity to meet our “Friends of ASOC”, experts from Europe Direct and ISTAT Calabria. The meeting was really useful for more in-depth research of the data and essential for the statistics in our project. Especially precious was the interview with the Mayor of Vibo Valentia, Maria Limardo, in lesson 3. She answered all our questions but above of all, she informed us that the building will be used as a temporary location of a primary school for a couple of years. That was a piece of bad news! It crushed our hopes to see the building used as Museums’ Centre

Finally, thanks to the kindness of the Company surveyor, we could visit the whole building, with a perfect guide. The surveyor Russo was so exhaustive in his detailed description of the works made by the Company, we could learn a lot about the building and the difficulties found during the restoration. Moreover, from the monitoring visit to the structure, we have also learnt that the project is technically concluded; in June 2021 the building was tested and delivered, waiting to be used (unfortunately as a school). The funds assigned for the work have all been spent. Some other information we got from the engineers Callisti and Santini, the two technicians of the Municipality, is that all the funds (amounting to €3,762,969.19) have been used.

We want to continue to follow the project and to monitor it.  Our aim remains and will remain to develop art and culture in our city, Vibo Valentia. That’s why we’ve chosen to monitor this project. We do believe that an interactive and multimedia museum should be placed in the restored building, offering a new and modern experience to all visitors. Collections and exhibitions could thus capture, the past in a way useful to the present and the future We also want it to be inclusive for children, who will interact directly with the works and have the opportunity to create their own art. In this brand-new modern museum, emerging artists from Vibo Valentia should have the opportunity to exhibit their art in a dedicated section.

Continuing to monitor the project is the only way we have to force the local administration to use this structure for its destination as soon as possible. So, meet you next year and see what happens!