Note from Mayor Nicola Fiorita on the Cinema Orso affair.
Without prejudice to full respect for the decisions that the judiciary takes in its work, it must be said that the history of a city and a neighborhood cannot be erased with a TAR ruling. No judge will be able, by replacing the skills of the Superintendency’s experts, to remove the profound bond – which is historical, cultural and social – between the Orso cinema and the generations of Catanzaro residents who opened their gaze to the world in that place. It won’t be the absence of armchairs or the projector that will disperse the emotions, the sensations, the atmospheres that the Bear has been able to provide for more than half a century. It then seems paradoxical that a building built in 1922 – that is, a century old – cannot be considered historic. If this were the criterion, the Ferramonti concentration camp could not be considered historic. And so do dozens of artefacts in various Italian cities. We would not have expected an invasive spillover from the TAR on issues related to historical, cultural and architectural assessments, with a delegitimization of the Superintendency which could open the way to the most disparate requests from private individuals on sites of historical interest. If the Superintendence’s motivations were deemed weak, nothing prevented it from arranging for an in-depth investigation to be entrusted to proven experts in the sector. We will defend the historical-cultural dimension of Cinema Orso to the bitter end both in the competent bodies, and therefore before the Council of State, and in all the administrative acts that we will be called upon to adopt. No one is under the illusion that something different can be done where culture and beauty have been cultivated for decades. There are inhibitory constraints and environmental constraints that prevent destinations other than that of a cultural container. What happened only confirms how difficult it is in our city to make choices for change and carry forward battles for civilization