Bari: the Margerita Theatre, the former fish market and the Sonnino barracks become property of the Municipality. 

This morning the notarial deeds were signed which sanction the official and definitive transfer of the Teatro Margherita and the former fish market to the heritage of the Municipality of Bari, destined to become the “Polo of Arts and Contemporary Culture of the city of Bari”, as well as the Sonnino Barracks, which in turn will be handed over to the metropolitan city to host the new headquarters of the artistic high school.

The agreement was signed by the director of the Heritage division Giuseppe Ceglie, the Puglia regional director of the State Property Agency Antonio Ottavio Ficchi and the engineer Domenico Giordano, responsible for the BA 1 territorial services (Bari, Barletta-Andria-Trani).

“Today's passage, the result of intense inter-institutional work for which, on behalf of the municipal administration, I would like to thank the State Property Agency and the Ministry of Culture – comments Heritage and ERP councilor Vito Lacoppola –, marks a firm point within the broader strategy implemented for the valorisation and re-functionalisation of valuable real estate, with the aim of enhancing the cultural and educational offer of the city.

If the Contemporary Hub project has already been widely illustrated and launched, with the use, albeit partial, of two of the properties that compose it and which from today officially fall within the Municipality's real estate portfolio, I am interested in drawing attention to the acquisition of the former Italian Air Force barracks in Corso Sonnino.

This large real estate compendium, in fact, will be renovated to become the new headquarters of the Pascali-De Nittis artistic high school: an important result in terms of school buildings and the right to study and which brings with it a promise of the future. The metropolitan city will follow the planning and implementation of the intervention, aimed at guaranteeing adequate and equipped spaces for the activities of the artistic high school according to the needs expressed by the school population. This is an operation that will at the same time allow the metropolitan city to save 700 thousand euros (including VAT) per year, currently paid for the rental of the property that houses the high school in via De Nittis".