“We are very satisfied with the progress of the works, we hope that in a few months, in the first instance, the gym will be available again to the Reggio sports clubs. This is a commitment of approximately 1.4 million euros which also affects the structures adjacent to the gym. Our goal is that the entire Purple Planet facility can be used again for athletes. For many years this structure has been an Italian sporting excellence, where Viola Basket has nurtured thousands of young basketball players, from Reggio Calabria and beyond, also allowing the first team to benefit from a gym and a cutting-edge sports centre, envied by all Italian sporting realities. The metropolitan city is aiming, as for other facilities, to return all the relevant sports facilities to the territory, improving and expanding them and above all opening them up to social use, involving the grassroots and building centers of excellence capable of generating income and employment”. Thus the metropolitan councilor Giovanni Latella, delegate for Sport, on the sidelines of an inspection carried out at the ‘Planeta Viola’ in Reggio Calabria, owned by Palazzo Alvaro, which is the subject of a renovation and redevelopment project. Present were the metropolitan mayor, Giuseppe Falcomatàthe metropolitan deputy mayor Carmelo Versacethe head of the metropolitan cabinet, Francesco Dattola and the deputy mayor of Reggio Calabria, Paolo Brunetti.
The works relating to the gym area concern the playing field, the changing rooms and toilet block (athletes, match judges, infirmary and staff), the gyms, the entire spectator services block, the roof covering, the systems electrical and thermomechanical systems.
The metropolitan deputy mayor, Carmelo Versace recalled the fundamental role of the Purple Planet “for over a decade – he said – the flagship of sports facilities in Calabria and a center of excellence for training and preparation for basketball”.
“In recent years – he added – lhe structure had been subjected to damage which depleted its potential in terms of sporting attractiveness and beyond. It was therefore a duty to grant a new life to the Sports Centre, which aims to return to the glories of the past. We felt a particular emotion during the inspection, the works are in fact proceeding quickly and we hope to return a highly equipped facility for the Reggio basketball teams and beyond in the shortest time possible. In fact, we would like – he concluded – that the entire structure can also be used for free time, hospitality and entertainment activities”.