The refurbishment of the Stadio Artemio Franchi continues apace. As you’d expect for any construction project of this scale, there are delays, many resulting from decades of neglect. This morning, Letizia Perini (the local official in charge of sports and one of the city’s closet liaisons with the team) reported on the latest issue. After assembling the scaffolding around the Torre di Maratona, workers have discovered that it’s even more messed up than expected and will need to be completely rebuilt.
The 70 meter (230 ft) monolith above its namesake stand, the Tribuna di Maratona, might be the Franchi’s most iconic component, a trademark feature that fans associate with the stadium just as much as the helicoidal stairs (equal to the San Siro’s more famous examples) or the sinking feeling of disappointment that comes with watching Fiorentina. That disappointment will doubtless be amplified as architects and engineers study the tower to ensure they maintain the spirit and function of Pier Luigi Nervi’s vision without running afoul of the labyrinthine permitting process that’s dogged this project for decades.
Perini didn’t provide a timetable for this inspection, citing the need for expert evaluation before putting a date on anything. My guess is that this will push the overall completion date of the refurbishment back by another couple months but that’s based on my passing familiarity with construction projects and Italian bureaucracy than any understanding of the actual work required.
Perini concluded her statement with a crisp, “Of course we’re trying to do everything as fast as possible. In general, the discussions have been going on for some time now and the municipal administration is acting in a fully correct manner. I hope that nobody wants to insinuate certain things,” which I took as evidence of the city’s sensitivity to the narrative that it’s dragged its feet on the construction for years.
It’s a comparatively minor issue to this entire boondoggle and probably won’t impact the ever-retreating target date for completion. As recently as last year, officials were aiming to finish by 30 April 2027, but have since pushed that back to 2029. Even that’s looking like a hopelessly optimistic forecast after Florence city councilor and Francesco Casini mentioned last month that the deadline is now 2031 and that Fiorentina will need to chip in more money to avoid a funding shortfall.
With Italy slated to host the Euros in 2032, it’s fair to wonder if the Franchi will be ready for the tournament, although at least it’s farther along than 8 of the 9 other arenas: Bari’s Stadio San Nicola, Naples’ Stadio Diego Maradona, Verona’s Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Bologna’s Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, and Genoa’s Stadio Luigi Ferraris haven’t even begun their renovations, while Milan, Rome, and Cagliari are all working on entirely new venues. Only Turin’s loathesome Juventus Stadium meets UEFA’s standards. Meanwhile, 8 of Turkey’s 10 stadia are ready to go right now, providing an embarrassing contrast to the state of affairs in Serie A.
As we’re legally obligated to do, here’s your reminder that the late Rocco Commisso offered to buy the Franchi outright and undertake all this work on his own dime but was defeated at every turn by a system that resists any impetus. There’s a world in which he threw his energy into remodeling the stadium instead of building the Viola Park, but it’s not this world. This world leaves us wondering how many more unforeseen issues will crop up, pushing the completion date into a future that’s ever more distant. At this point, I just hope I get to see a game at a fully remodeled Franchi before I die.
