The Municipality of Florence has launched a fresh tender for the redevelopment of Fiorentina’s Stadio Artemio Franchi after no proposals were submitted during the initial process.
The deadline for submissions passed yesterday at 1pm. The tender called for proposals for the executive design and construction works for a revamp of the Artemio Franchi.
No offers were submitted, an eventuality the Municipality said it had considered and was prepared for. The new tender outlined by the Municipality calls for a works contract based on an executive project.
Under the new proposal, the winning company should have completed the executive project within three months of the award, which is scheduled for July 30. It is hoped that work on the project can begin at the end of December.
The Municipality will instruct engineering and design consultancy Arup, which has already been awarded the architectural and multidisciplinary design contract, to draw up the executive design in less time and then carry out a new tender on the basis of the executive project, which would close by November 15.
Serie A club Fiorentina is planning a €193.4m (£167m/$210.9m) redevelopment of the Franchi, which opened in 1931 and has a current capacity of around 43,000. The Municipality owns the Franchi and is leading the renovation project.
Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella has said that Fiorentina will require a temporary home for two seasons while the project is carried out. Earlier this month, it emerged that the club was exploring the possibility of building a temporary stadium at a nearby rugby facility and the Municipality has said that these plans are proceeding.
The Municipality said that the project for a temporary stadium at the current Padovani rugby site will be included in its budget plan in July, with a feasibility study to be launched later in the year. Fiorentina’s general manager Joe Barone has said that a temporary structure with 16,000 seats could be built on the site where Firenze Rugby 1931’s home currently sits.
The Franchi renovation project has been met with multiple challenges. In April, the European Commission confirmed that Italy had been barred from directing almost €150m of COVID-19 recovery funds towards major stadium projects in Florence and Venice, €55m of which was destined for the Franchi.
The Municipality said yesterday that the uncertainty surrounding the funding of the project may have contributed to the lack of proposals submitted during the initial tender process. The Municipality said it will present an appeal to the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) against the state, seeking damages in addition to the restoration of the loan that had previously been agreed.
