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The Municipality of Milan has launched an appeal against a decision placing protected status on the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, effectively preventing any efforts to redevelop the venue commonly known as the San Siro.
The Municipality has said it will present an appeal to the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Lombardy-Milan to secure an annulment of the opinion presented by the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendence for the Metropolitan City of Milan on July 26, followed by another from the Regional Commission for the Cultural Heritage of Lombardy on July 27.
These related to the classification of the second tier of the Meazza, along with the west stand, as structures of cultural interest. During a meeting held in May, despite apparent pressure from AC Milan and Inter Milan, the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape, a body chaired by Emanuela Carpani, was said to have confirmed that it would not lift protected status from the Meazza.
This relates to the stadium’s second tier and towers, which were built in 1955 and under historical constraints related to public-owned property are due to be afforded protected status after 70 years, therefore in 2025.
The current status is only provisional, with a definitive decision required to be made in 2025. However, the situation appears to end the possibility of the Meazza being demolished to make way for a new stadium.
Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, has repeatedly spoken out against the opinion formed on the Meazza, stating he would overturn it, if he had the power to do so. Speaking last week, Sala announced the intention to appeal, stating that “there is clear economic damage for the Municipality”. He added: “It is an absurd constraint, damaging the patrimonial value and wealth of the Municipality of Milan and the Milanese.”
Inter and Milan have shared the Meazza since 1926, and the venue has been repeatedly renovated over the years. Both clubs had been working on a joint Nuovo Stadio Milan project, but ongoing delays concerning this venture have prompted them to reassess their options. The new joint stadium was intended to be built on the same plot of land occupied by the two clubs’ current home.
Inter last week offered a glimpse of life after the Meazza by revealing initial concept images of a new 70,000-capacity stadium that it hopes will open ahead of the 2028-29 season. TheStadiumBusiness.com understands that Inter is working with Populous on the project in the Rozzano comune.
Milan last month officially announced for the first time that it is pursuing a new stadium project away from its current home. The Serie A club said that it had “completed the first formal step”, in view of the potential future submission of a full project plan, by presenting to the San Donato Milanese council an urban development proposal for the San Francesco area.
The club has engaged CAA ICON to carry out the implementation of the project, while MANICA will be the design architect tasked with developing plans for a new stadium and the entire entertainment district.
The project hypothesis for the new stadium – the concept of which will be presented at a later stage – is to construct an “innovative, sustainable and multifunctional facility”, which can accommodate around 70,000 spectators.
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