There are others astride the San Filippo stream two sports facilities that will soon become a construction site. One is the multipurpose stadium in Santa Lucia sopra Contesse, the other is the Merlino skating rink at Cep.
The closest to starting work is the palatenda of Santa Lucia where the nearby house will also be recovered. By May the company Emmolo srl will begin work on a structure created over 20 years ago and which was renovated for the first time 15 years ago, before the plastic covering tore. Certainly not an unpredictable event in a windy city like Messina.
With the funds from the Masterplan (around 400 thousand euros available but 214 thousand will be enough), after the design phase, the restoration works were entrusted. The Santa Lucia multifunctional facility consists of a play area which, according to the original design, is covered with a PVC awning and a building for the changing rooms. Located in a small villa, the structure has been vandalized several times by uncivilized people and ruined by the wind which tore off the mobile covering. The outdoor spaces are abandoned and infested with spontaneous vegetation. Recreational furniture is damaged. The playing field allows soccer, basketball and volleyball competitions and training. The planned interventions ensure that the roof is finally solid and able to resist even the lashes of the sirocco. The lighting will also be changed which, obviously, was irreparably damaged with the tearing of the awning. The entire flooring will also need to be replaced, in fact a multidisciplinary sports surface will be installed. The changing rooms will also be refurbished starting from the old electrical system. But the external area can also be enhanced with work in the flowerbeds and in the bowling green area. The work is expected to last seven months.
Let's move to the Cep. Here we are talking about a much more substantial and financed intervention, like the Celeste, with the Pnrr. The reconstruction of the PalaMerlino was entrusted to the joint venture Arcobaleno Srl – Edil Costruzioni Putrino based in Aci S. Antonio. Reduction of 34.9728% on the starting price of 3,381,000 euros. Here the demolition and reconstruction works should start by June. The structure will have to become a reference for the “wheels” for the whole island. Inline hockey, freestyle and figure skating will have a new home with an insulated sheet metal roof and a 600-seat grandstand plus parking. But as happened with the Celeste, the Municipality asked the Ministry if it can use the auction discount and improve the project by ensuring that the dimensions of the plant are such as to obtain national and not just regional approval. Furthermore, the almost 900 thousand euros would be used to expand the grandstand. The unknown remains where the companies will go during the construction period.