The former “A. Serra” Technical Commercial Institute in via Bendicenti ends up at the center of the debate on the housing crisis in Cosenza. With an official note released yesterday, the Prendocasa committee launches an appeal and a harsh political attack on local institutions, asking for the conversion of the immense building owned by the Province, which has been empty and unused for years.
According to activists, the structure – which covers an area of over 3,200 square meters – represents a strategic public asset that risks being sold off on the real estate market rather than being used for social purposes.
The project: classrooms and laboratories transformed into homes and services
The committee’s proposal is clear: recover what already exists without further land consumption. The large spaces of the former school, which include classrooms, laboratories and a gym, could be converted into:
Public housing (public housing) to address the spike in evictions in the city;
University residences for students;
Community spaces and services for the neighborhood.
«The response to the housing crisis cannot continue to be entrusted to the market or to the sale of collective assets – we read in the committee note – we need a recovery plan for unused buildings. Fewer gifts to the lords of cement and income, zero land consumption.”
The appeal to the Municipality, Province and Region
The Prendocasa committee underlines how the solution has already been presented several times on the table of the Municipality of Cosenza (Palazzo dei Bruzi) during past discussions, indicating the former ITC “Serra” as a concrete and immediately practicable response to the housing emergency.
The press release ends with a direct call to the heads of the local, provincial and regional administrations, directly calling into question the mayor Franz Caruso, the president of the Region Roberto Occhiuto and the president of the Province Biagio Faragalli