Imminent demolition of the former cement factory and maxi project involving energy, work and development: this is how the face of the Euganean Hills is changing with the largest construction site in the Veneto.
The largest intervention officially begins in Monselice sustainable urban regeneration currently underway in Veneto. After years of waiting, the project for the transformation of the area of the former Italcementi cement factory, closed since 2015, and the adjoining former Monte Fiorin quarry is taking shape: an operation that concerns overall 66 hectares and aims to redesign one of the most important abandoned industrial sites in the area.
The construction site was officially presented on 28 February in the presence of the deputy mayor of Monselice Stefano Peraro, the regional councilor and former mayor Giorgia Bedin, the president of the Colli Euganei Regional Park Alessandro Frizzarin, the president of Vitali Spa Massimo Vitali and the administrator of Roncello Capital Antonio Sala.
The first activities have already begun: these are the preliminary operations of arrangement and cleaning of the areaa necessary step before the demolition of existing industrial structures.
A “brownfield” intervention without consumption of new land
The project is configured as an intervention of brownfield regenerationtherefore without new land consumption. The transformation will affect two distinct areas.
In the northern portion the buildings of the former cement plant will be demolished to make room for new technological settlementsgreen spaces and a reorganization of access. In the southern portion, corresponding to the former Monte Fiorin quarry, an environmental redevelopment with remodeling of the land is planned.
Right in the quarry area there will also be a photovoltaic parkdesigned to be essentially invisible from a landscape point of view thanks to the morphology of the site and the perimeter wooded strips. The objective is to contribute to the energy transition of the area.
Public-private partnership and community works
Regeneration arises from an agreement between the Municipality of Monselice and the Roncello Capital company of Peschiera Borromeo. The agreement also provides important public implications.
Among these, the transfer to the Municipality of an area of 15,000 square meters intended for new sports facilities and the creation of a road connection between the Italcementi link road and Regional Road 10, a strategic infrastructure for local mobility, through the completion of the section up to the underpass of via Moralediemo.
What will arise in the former Italcementi area
The plan includes:
– a photovoltaic park of approximately 24 hectares for the production of renewable energy;
– new sports facilities near the Marendole field;
– the conversion of approximately 20 hectares of the former factory in the production area with low environmental impact construction techniques;
– the reorganization of internal roads and the creation of a cycle path along the entire sector;
– the road connection to the Schiavonia hospital.
Peraro: «Demolition is numbered»
«From words to deeds, the regeneration of the former Italcementi area is now a reality. The demolition of the cement plant is on its last legs and finally its imposing silhouette will no longer be seen from any part of the Euganean Hills territory. The landscape and environmental redevelopment of the area is an operation that looks to the future, that is, to the creation of value and jobs for the territory, to sustainability, through the production of energy from renewable sources, to the quality of life through the creation of new sports facilities and cycle paths. From the beginning, a great understanding was established between the municipal administration and Roncello Capital. Hours of meetings, dozens of encounters and discussions to give concrete form to the largest sustainable urban regeneration intervention in our territory.»
Bedin: «A historic event for the city»
«For Monselice and for the people of Monselice it is a historic, unique event. We were born and raised with the cement plant in operation and then definitively closed in 2015. Soon it will no longer be there. It was a qualifying point of my electoral program as mayor which has come true today, despite no one believing it possible except myself and councilor Peraro. We have demonstrated that regeneration is not just a beautiful word, but a reality in Monselice, considering the many interventions implemented during my mandate. Monselice grows, transforms, becomes a sustainable city.»
Vitali: «A replicable model»
«The challenge of this project is ambitious, but clear: to demonstrate that it is possible to transform a disused industrial area such as that of the former cement factory and the adjoining former quarry into a strategic node for the energy transition, creating a virtuous dialogue between public and private, environment and business, past and future. It is a replicable model, capable of inspiring other territories and making regeneration a concrete opportunity to innovate and grow. The intervention will bring concrete benefits to the territory of Monselice and the Euganean Hills, with new technological and productive settlements, greater employment and new opportunities for businesses and citizens, while at the same time returning usable and valorised spaces to the community, with a view to sustainable development and reduction of environmental impacts.»
Sala: «A project rooted in the territory»
«Our commitment to investing in the recovery and urban regeneration of the former cement plant area originates from the concrete availability of the institutions and, in particular, of the Monselice Administration, which has chosen to support and accompany this transformation path with conviction, responsibility and strategic vision. When the dialogue between public and private is based on seriousness, coherence and sharing of objectives, the assumption of responsibility by investors is strengthened naturally, oriented not only towards the valorisation of immediate opportunities, but also towards the construction of a solid and lasting development perspective. Our ambition is to give life to an organic project deeply rooted in the territory, capable of harmoniously integrating with the local economic and entrepreneurial fabric, generating positive and measurable impacts from a social, employment and environmental perspective. We intend to restore value and function to an area that has been in a state of abandonment for too long, transforming it into a driving force for growth, innovation and renewed urban identity.»
The project and protection of the Euganean Hills
«This is undoubtedly an important intervention, which fits fully into the objectives outlined in article 36 of the Environmental Plan and in the candidacy process of the Euganean Hills as a Biosphere Reserve within the UNESCO MAB programme. The regeneration of the site responds to the founding principle of the Institution: to protect and enhance the naturalistic, historical and environmental characteristics of the Euganean Hills territory. We therefore welcome the opportunity to recover this area, which is located a short distance from places of extraordinary historical and landscape interest, such as the Rocca di Monselice and Arquà Petrarca. It is essential that this path has been started and that it is completed with determination, until the set objectives are achieved.”
