An event that seemed to have been forgotten. Of the skyscraper in Largo Avignone we hadn’t spoken or written for a long time. Now the spotlight is back on with a series of actions that could put a tombstone on the path of the ambitious building. Even if the designers pour water on the fire and speak of an interlocutory phase. It is – it must be emphasized – one of the private building works that has been most discussed in the years, before the “silence” of these last months.
A skyscraper of twenty-two floorslocated in via Cesare Battisti, block 96, in that large Avignone that holds part of the city’s history (linked to the missionary presence of Sant’Annibale Maria Di Francia). A project that also included the recovery of the eighteenth-century façade of the old building on via Porta Imperiale. Let’s retrace the steps and see what has happened in recent weeks.
The communication of “start of works” dates back to 2017 but the request for an extension until 2027, through tacit consent, with the concession almost expired, is from a few months ago. Between 2017 and the past few months there has been only one correspondence with the Municipality and with the bodies that have specific competence, with passages also in the halls of the Administrative Justice that have given reason to the private individuals.
The cold shower on August 6th for designers and partners of an operation that has been looking for financiers for some time. The Civil Engineering Department sets limits on the seismic issue: he writes, in essence, that before starting the works it is necessary and indispensable to transmit the project to the seismic construction portal, classifying the intervention as of major importance and requesting authorization to open the construction sites. In short, several calculations and new studies are needed.
This “stop” alone, added to a series of doubts and perplexities already expressed by the Municipality, is enough to trigger in the last few days the start of the cancellation of the silent consent of the building permit. In fact, the provision drawn up by the Department of Private Construction of the Municipality states: «As the procedure still lacks the necessary steps to be taken in seismic matters». Naturally, there is time to challenge the act, presenting the observations and studies requested.
The assumption and effectiveness of the silent consent institute (which the planners had self-extended until October 15, 2027), writes the Municipality, is legitimate only if the procedure is in possession of all the consent acts, however named, issued by the entities involved. And Palazzo Zanca, in the same provision, reiterates a series of doubts.
On the ground floor of the building, there is a “portico for public use that is not completely open and accessible on all sides, as required”. The project includes “the construction of a floor intended for parking at a height of 50 meters in derogation of the unauthorized building volume”. Furthermore, it is necessary to “complete the payment of the concession fees”.