Rehabilitation of Fienga Palace: From Mafia Stronghold to Urban Park

The rehabilitation of Fienga Palace, a property confiscated from organized crime located in the municipality of Torre Annunziata, was at the center of a meeting convened by the Prefect of Naples, Michele di Bari, which was attended by the head of the National Agency for Assets Seized and Confiscated from Organized Crime in Naples, the director of the State Property Agency of Naples, members of the extraordinary commission of the municipality of Torre Annunziata, the Superintendent of Archaeological Heritage, Fine Arts and Landscape for the metropolitan area of Naples, and the extraordinary commissioner for Fienga Palace and the representative of the Department for Cohesion Policies and the South. The meeting followed previous ones, particularly one that took place at the Ministry of the Interior last January, during which there was unanimous agreement on the proposal to demolish the building and create a large urban park, currently missing in the area, which lacks green spaces equipped for the citizens. Moreover, the regional commission for cultural heritage of Campania has revoked the cultural constraint that had been placed on the property, thus allowing the necessary project activities for the asset's conversion to begin. In this regard, the director of the State Property Agency reported that an operational agreement will be signed within 30 days between the national agency for assets seized and confiscated from organized crime, State Property Agency, and the extraordinary commissioner for Fienga Palace to regulate the phases, timing, execution, and types of expenditure of the project. Subsequently, it will be possible to start the tender procedures for the realization of the work. Regarding funding, the representative of the Department for Cohesion Policies and the South announced the availability of the Ministry for European Affairs, cohesion policies, and the NRP to reallocate the remaining resources of the Development and Cohesion Fund 2014-2020 to the fund for the enhancement of exemplary confiscated assets - including Fienga Palace - and to supplement them with additional funding, if necessary, which will allow the full coverage of the project costs indicated by the State Property Agency. All attendees emphasized the great institutional synergy that has allowed the launch of the important refunctionalization project of Fienga Palace and the special significance of returning to the citizens a property that has long represented the stronghold of the local Camorra clan.