Venice, Laura Pausini's concert caused 20 thousand euros worth of damage to St. Mark's Square

In Venice, St. Mark’s Square emerges bruised from the three Laura Pausini concerts that kept one of the world’s most beautiful squares occupied from June 30 to July 2. In fact, an article in the Corriere della Sera, by Costanza Francesconi, reports that Laura Pausini’s concert caused 20,000 euros worth of damage to the square’s pavement, but there were plaster detachments: it was the stage that caused the pavement problems, while the damage to the plaster, which detached from a building in Ramo del Salvadego, was caused by the too-high volume of the amplifiers during the soundcheck.

The damage caused to the pavement had already been reported a few days after the concert: on July 12, the president of the Association of St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Claudio Vernier, posted on his Facebook profile some pictures of masegni (i.e., the stone blocks that in Venice are used to pave the streets in the historic center) that had been either torn apart or cracked or had been moved and raised, due to the grounding of the stadium stage on which Laura Pausini performed. According to Vernier, the point is not to do or not to do concerts in the square: it is, if anything, the respect due to the place. Stages yes, then, but not as huge and impactful as the one mounted for Laura Pausini (again on his Facebook profile, Vernier offers an example of a stage he thinks is respectful, the one mounted for the La Fenice Theater concert).

Now that the damage is there, however, who pays for it? To bear the burden, Public Works Councillor Francesca Zaccariotto told Corriere, can only be those who caused it. “The bill for restoration and cleaning,” she said, “will be presented by Vela [ed. note: the entity in charge of events in Venice] to the company that made the appointments for the artist.” The inspections, the councilor explained, “were done by the municipality, Vela and the Superintendence before and after the various events. From the analysis, the technicians found it necessary to intervene on the pavement at a cost of 21 thousand euros that will be paid by those who caused the damage.”

It will then be necessary to put into practice a protocol that involves photographing the state of the area where an event will take place, and it is also assumed that a single structure will be put up for all the concerts, so that there will be no continuous assembly and disassembly operations. The goal is to make sure that situations like those caused by Laura Pausini’s concert will not happen again.

Pictured is the damage to St. Mark’s Square caused by the stage. Photo: Claudio Vernier

Venice, Laura Pausini's concert caused 20 thousand euros worth of damage to St. Mark's Square

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