Il Tirreno Giornale
It will cost 25,000 lire ($12 US)to get on the Leaning Tower
The Inclination Has Been Reduced by Almost 40 Centimeters
A Very Beautiful Party for St. Ranieri Day with a Concert by Bocelli and Cecilia Gasdia in Piazza dei Miracoli
Saturday 7 April 2001
by Candid Virgone
The Tower (Foto Muzzi)
PISA. It will cost 25,000 lire ($12 US) to get on the Tower, starting in November, in groups of not more than 30 people with guides . This is the decision of the group working on safety for the reopening of the monument, that is meeting these days in Pisa and that is composed of members of the office for Public Works in Tuscany and by the Work of the Primaziale.
And also by members of the Pisan superintendence, by the Committee for the Safeguard of the Tower and by the Officers of the Fire. The expected price of the ticket had been announced yesterday afternoon by the Work of the Primaziale on occasion of the visit of the minister of Public Works, Nerio Nesi, and by the general manager for building, Marcello Arredi.
With them were present the president of the Committee who for 11 years has worked at the bedside of the Tower, Michele Jamiolkowski, visibly satisfied to have arrived at the end of a long and difficult trip, some members of the same committee, the president of the Work of the Primaziale, Pierfrancesco Pacini, mayor Paul Fontanelli, and the Prefect, Paul Padoin.
"The lavish engagement", the minister has said among others, " honors professor Jamiolkowski and also the university of Turin where he teaches and that it is my city. I thank all the Committee and whoever has operated for the realization of this ambitious project. Eleven years of work could seem so much, but not it if you think that to build this bell tower, that has become the symbol of Italy throughout the world, took a good 200 years.
This work demonstrates that we are a grand civic country and that we have so much to learn but also so much to teach. The wealth constituted by our cultural patrimony, that represents 35% of the world's total, is also a big responsibility. That's why the cost is indeed modest. We in the Office of Public Works have become accustomed to speaking in terms of thousands of billion, for which the 55 million lire must be understood by 58 million Italians, as it represents our country, that this money has been well spent. The methodolology used in this work should be exportable: I would want this enterprise to be an example to the world of how irreplaceable monuments are restored".
Jamiolkowski has given a summary of the work: the Tower has decreased its inclination by 396 millimeters, therefore missing only some 4 millimeters to the final finish, that of 40 centimeters; the monument is returned to the state in which it was two centuries ago, at the end of the 1700's, while this operation will safeguard it for at least another two and a half centuries - safe from the immediate dangers: turnover due to inclination and structural collapse.
The Committee has reached the first two objectives, that of the stabilization of the foundation and of the structural reinforcement - they will be concluded by the end of May, while it already has ready the plan for the third, the material restoration. This last will happen in the next years by work of appropriate and experienced technicians from the Central Institute of Restoration, through a flowing scaffolding that should limit the visual impact of the exterior work.
Meanwhile, by the end of May, they will have eliminated all the pipes used for the subexcavation and the suspenders will be removed. In June the restoration of the basin will take place. The work related to installation of the new system of monitors has been set for October (that will last 10 years), and restoration of the marble of the basin and of the steps. In November comes dismantlement of the workyard and removal of the enclosure.
The Piazza will be redelivered to the world, being a patrimony of the humanity, June 16, as it has already been announced, on occasion of the festival of the patron of Pisa, St. Ranieri, in a special day with a long series of initiatives: among which a summary of the work, an historical procession, a show of the sbandieratori, and finally a marvelous concert by Andrew Bocelli and Cecilia Gasdia, held in Piazza dei Miracoli, that will be transmitted in Worldvision.
June 16 there will also be a contest sponsored by the Office of Public Works among the children of the Pisan elementary and middle schools who will produce works related to the tower: sketches, compositions or slogans as anyone desires.
La Nazione
Two Days of Festivities for Tower Restored to Health
(PISA, Italia, Posted 07 Apr 2001 09: 16 )
by Valeria Caldelli
PISA. Two days of celebrations in mid June to celebrate the conclusion of the work and the "found again" safety of the Tower after 11 years of anxiety and trouble. And by the end of November, the workyard will have disappeared completely and the piazza will take back its ancient and splendid appearance for whoever may return to enter the door that discloses the mysteries of the most famous monument of the world. The committee entrusted with the reopening of the bell tower of Bonanno has been reunited since last Thursday and has decided that the public will be again permitted to enter the Tower in groups of 30 at a time accompanied by a guide. Booking will be obligatory and the cost of the ticket has been established at 25,000 lire ($12 US).
"I had made the provocative proposal of 50,000 lire, but at this price there were many problems", said the president of the Work of the Primaziale, Pierfrancesco Pacini, in the course of the press conference in which, in front of the minister of Public Works, Nerio Nesi, plans have been announced for the future of the Tower finally restored to health. Regarding the price of the ticket, Pacini was always listening to the pressures "polite, but insistent" by the minister, who did not want a cost too high.
The tourists will arrive at the bell cell, but also, as the general manager of the office, Marcello Arredi, has promised, one of the rings will be visitable thanks to a retractible barrier, that will disappear when the Tower is closed.
"The ministers of Public Works receive many criticisms, but fortunately, every so often, there is also some good news. And that of the conclusion of the work for the safety of the bell tower of Bonanno is surely an of these", minister Nesi said. "Among the other the jobs that are funded through our office ther are those that have cost hundreds or often thousands of billions of lire. Instead a monument like the Tower has been recoverd at cost as little as 55 billion. We can tell the Italian citizens with pride that we have spent their money well". The minister has also spoken about the possibility of "exporting" the methodology used for the bell tower of Bonanno to other restorations so that an important experience is distributed.
The mayor Paul Fontanelli, satisfied to have reached the finish, has wanted to thank the committee, that has been able to find a solution to a such a difficult problem. It is the Government, in the end, that has allowed a positive conclusion to all the bureaucratic matters that have complicated the life of the committee. "We return the monument sure and free from each hazard", he remembers. "This is important not only for us, but for all humanity. Once the workyard is removed, the Piazza will return as before. Our assignment will be to work on behalf of this extraordinary good in a broader circle. I find that the fruition of the monument is a positive time for renewed defense of the Tower. We will watch over it and protect it from pollution. We have removed the the tourist buses from largo Cocco Griffi Coconut as a provision in this direction".
Professor Michele Jamiolkowski in turn has announced that the workyard will be removed by the end of November.
