The Villa De Pasquale Foundation is officially born, established thanks to a regional law proposed by the Hon. Antonio De Luca, group leader of the 5 Star Movement at the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The constitution was formalized today with the signing of the notarial deed and presented during a press conference in the Oval Room of the Municipality of Messina. The birth of the Foundation represents the result of an institutional path promoted and supported by Antonio De Luca, who already in 2023 had obtained several allocations for maintenance and protection interventions on the villa, including the one currently underway which involves the replacement of the wall with a railing that allows the Villa to be viewed from the state road and the recovery of the relative access on the mountain side. In 2024, again on his initiative, the Sicilian Regional Assembly approved the regulation establishing the Foundation, providing for an allocation of 392 thousand euros which, again on the initiative of the Hon. De Luca was then also confirmed for subsequent years.
The Foundation will be led by Silvia Mazza, art historian and president of the Board of Directors, also composed of lawyers Giovanni Villari and Massimiliano Panarello, all appointed by the regional councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato. The director of the “Maria Accascina” regional museum in Messina, Marisa Mercurio, also participated in the press conference, representing councilor Scarpinato, unable to intervene due to previous institutional commitments.
The Foundation was created with the aim of protecting, conserving, promoting and managing Villa De Pasquale, a historic complex in Via Marco Polo, linked to the figure of the entrepreneur Cav. Eugenio De Pasquale and the economic and social history of Messina in the first decades of the twentieth century. The Statute provides for its public use and the development of cultural, research and training activities, through seminars, courses, study groups, competitions, scholarships, prizes, events and collaborations with public and private institutions and entities, including international ones.
«With the establishment of the Villa De Pasquale Foundation we are completing a process started in recent years, first through the allocations for the protection of the complex and then with a specific regional regulation which made the creation of the Foundation possible. Today a new phase opens, in which we want to restore to the city not only an architectural heritage, but also the memory of Messina as a protagonist of industrial and economic life, capable of creating employment and looking beyond its borders. Our objective is twofold: to make the Villa a cultural and scientific center of international scope, through collaborations with universities and research institutions, and at the same time make it a place open to the daily use of citizens, especially those from the southern area, who need meeting and aggregation spaces. This result also demonstrates the value of transversal institutional collaboration, which has been able to go beyond political affiliations in the interest of the community. For this I thank the councilor Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, the general director Mario La Rocca and the successive directors of the regional museum, Orazio Micali and Marisa Mercurio, for the attention and collaboration shown. I extend my best wishes for success to the president Silvia Mazza and the members of the Board of Directors”, concludes Antonio De Luca.
In her speech, Marisa Mercurio retraced the events of the complex and the interventions carried out over the years to combat its degradation and guarantee its protection. The director recalled that the site includes, in addition to the villa, several buildings which, although in deteriorating conditions, retain the possibility of recovery and could be used for artistic, theatrical, library and cultural activities. He also recalled the work currently underway to improve the accessibility of the complex and the importance of involving the inhabitants of the neighborhood, who have already shown interest and participation in the initiatives hosted in the villa in the past.
«Assuming the Presidency of the Villa De Pasquale Foundation means for me making a commitment, guided by passion and determination, on a double scale: local and regional. On the strategic front, the objective is for the Villa to gain a dimension of regional and national importance through prestigious partnerships and wide-ranging cultural projects. At city level, however, the absolute priority is to return this historic asset to public enjoyment on an ongoing basis, overcoming the logic of episodic events that has characterized management so far. Villa De Pasquale belongs to the entrepreneurial and social history of our city, and that is where it must return. We want to start a participatory process that counteracts isolation and relational fragmentation in our community, rebuilding bonds of trust and cooperation between citizens, institutions, businesses and the third sector. To do this, we will implement stable cultural programming, capable of transforming the Villa into a place of reconnection for the social fabric. With particular regard to the active participation of young people, who if involved and committed plan and not destroy”, declares Silvia Mazza, president of the Villa De Pasquale Foundation.
The members of the Board of Directors, Giovanni Villari and Massimiliano Panarello, also recalled the value of the Foundation as a tool for placing historical and cultural heritage at the service of the community. Among the perspectives indicated, the promotion of initiatives aimed at young people, schools and the university world, to raise awareness of the history of Villa De Pasquale and, through it, the economic, industrial and cultural role played by Messina between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. A heritage of memory and knowledge to be enhanced also through new cultural relationships and collaboration between institutions and the territory.