Controversy in Gambassi Terme over the new functional center that replaced the old theater

There is no peace in Gambassi Terme, a small spa town in Valdelsa, in the heart of Tuscany, around the affair of the former Municipal Theater, which will be demolished in 2021 to make way for a multipurpose facility with a totally different architecture than the old building. The story starts in 2021, when the city administration, led by Mayor Paolo Campinoti, made the decision to demolish the Municipal Theater dating back to 1920: it was a building created as the “House of Culture for the People” erected in memory of the fallen soldiers of World War I, designed by architect Arcadio Ferranti and engineer Enrico Marabotti (it then took seven years to finish the work: the theater was opened in 1927, although already two years later it became the local headquarters of the National Fascist Party). Damaged during World War II, it was reopened as a people’s house and served this function until 1963, after which, with the transfer of the people’s house to another location, the former theater was abandoned and never used again, ending up in a state of heavy decay. Hence the decision to demolish it.

A citizens’ committee, called “Let’s Save the Gambassi Theater,” had complained about the low involvement of the citizenry in the decision-making process, and asked the administration not to tear down the structure, but to try to restore it and, in case even a restoration could not redeem the theater that had become a ruin by then, to approve a makeover following the original 1920 design. A petition signed by some 500 citizens was also addressed to the mayor in the summer of 2021. All to no avail because already in November 2021 bulldozers were coming to Di Vittorio Square to knock down the former theater.

The Superintendent’s Office had issued two opinions, one in 2001 and one in 2006, in which it declared, respectively, the lack of historical-artistic interest and cultural interest for the building: in fact, it was the green light for demolition. “The mayor, the aldermen, the city councilors, the majority party, the PD, despite reminders, questions, requests for dialogue and confrontation have never answered our question,” denounced in November 2021 the “Save the Gambassi Theater” committee: “say why because our observations (respect for memory, preservation of a frame that gives the authentic picture of a century-long history) are wrong, out of place, unconscionable compared to the project of building ex-new of a modern structure in Di Vittorio Square. The question was never properly answered, no one tried to justify with knowledge that the choice of the mayor and his administration was better than the conservative restoration of at least the facade.”

Construction work on the new multi-purpose building began shortly thereafter, and construction was completed in less than two years, so much so that the new facility was inaugurated as early as last December 3. The new building looks like a modern white cube covered by a dense array of vertical red beams: a 1.1 million euro investment (a cost that also included the demolition of the former theater) for a 480-square-meter center on two floors, with inside a hall for public meetings, a terrace with a view dedicated to events and a loggia, a 150-square-meter open area and a parking lot where the stage space used to be. The committee lost no opportunity to reiterate its opposition, stating that “that century-old artifact needed to be restored, or at least preserved in its iconic value, because it knew how to tell a century of associative events, a century of political events, a century of events, episodes, and circumstances that have seen the Gambassini people of so many generations as protagonists.” A century of episodes now replaced by a structure that has yet to begin its activities and is already awash in controversy.

In the pictures, the theater before and after. Photo: Salviamo il Teatro di Gambassi

Controversy in Gambassi Terme over the new functional center that replaced the old theater

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