Messina and the shame of the Quasimodo house, the IV Municipality: “The Municipality listens to us on the redevelopment project”

In relation to press reports reporting the municipal administration’s desire to redevelop the Quasimodo villa, entrusting the design to the investee company MessinaServizi Bene Comune SpA for a spending commitment of over 470 thousand euros, the undersigned Councilors of the IV Municipality note that one more time the Municipal Institution, which can boast concurrent competence over the redevelopment of public gardens, was not involved in the redevelopment projects of this and other green areas included in the territory of the IV Municipality. The aforementioned involvement, although it is regulated by the current Municipal Regulation on Administrative Decentralization, to date has not been recognized by the Basile Administration in any of the areas provided for in Article 17, except in the request for (non-binding) opinions on municipal regulations. If this desired collaboration had taken place, the undersigned would have pointed out how the amount allocated by the Environmental Services Department on the basis of the metric calculation commissioned by MessinaServizi could be rationalized in another way, perhaps by allocating the 25 thousand euros of illuminated writings and/or almost 90 thousand euros for designer flowerbeds and paths for the purchase of children’s games, the construction of toilets, a video surveillance system or for the highly requested dog run area. Since we are still in the initial planning stages, we believe we must follow up on our prerogatives as Councilors of the IV Municipality “Historic Center” by proposing these and other corrective measures in the resolution that was approved in the Council meeting of 24 January 2024. Specifically, here are the salient points that the administration should take into consideration in the design phase: a new video surveillance system; a dog run area; toilets (inclusive); games for children (inclusive); an area dedicated to the sport of skateboarding; refreshment point with fountain.