The Municipality of Rome has refused to grant public interest status to the redevelopment project put forward by swimming and water polo club AS Roma Nuoto for the Stadio Flaminio, seemingly leaving SS Lazio in the box seat to secure the venue for its own plans.

In a resolution voted unanimously by the Council, the Municipality has dismissed the feasibility project for the Flaminio put forward by Costruzioni Civili e Commerciali, on behalf of Rubner Holzbau and Roma Nuoto.

The swimming club’s interest in the Flaminio dates back as far as December 2020, when it presented the administration led by then Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, with a proposal to regenerate the mothballed Flaminio site.

Back in July, Roma Nuotoentered the first formal proposal to redevelop the Flaminio under renewed efforts to regenerate the site. Roma Nuoto’s vision was to conduct a restoration and renovation project that would bring the facility back to its original state, while also introducing new elements.

This would include the installation of a new structure sitting above the current playing surface, which could be assembled and disassembled according to the usage of the stadium.

However, the Council’s resolution on the matter yesterday (Thursday) read: “The proposal does not restore to the city the primary function for which the structure was designed, that of a stadium. It does not enhance the vocation of a ‘large sports facility’ capable of hosting national and international sporting events; it weakens the potential of the stadium as a cultural attraction centre. 

“The proposal weakens the functionality of the stadium by virtue of the reduction in the number of seats, from the original 42,000 to 7,500, and the introduction of commercial functions… consisting of a 2,500 square metre sales structure and other sales areas.”

From a large stadium of national interest, the Council said the Flaminio would have been transformed into a “multi-purpose facility” with a “multidisciplinary nature of the planned sporting activities, which, however, do not enrich the sporting offering of the relevant territorial quarter”.

The Council said the Flaminio complex is the best equipped in Rome in terms of sports facilities and services, a “precious legacy”, it added, from Rome’s staging of the 1960 Olympic Games.

The Flaminio was designed by renowned Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi and was built ahead of the 1960 Olympics, initially serving as a football ground before hosting matches played by Italy’s rugby union team from 2000 to 2011. The stadium has been closed since 2011, with the Municipality, its owner, seeking ways in which to bring it back to life.

Roma Nuoto has said it will look to challenge yesterday’s verdict. It added, in a statement reported byIl Messaggero: “We take note of the decision of the board, which we reserve the right to analyse, taking into account that, on the other hand, from a technical perspective, the conference of services, already in December, had instead defined the proposed project as fully feasible and realisable.

“It is clear that in response to the negative evaluation we will proceed – without delay – with every action in all judicial offices, especially to protect the city’s heritage, which in this way seriously risks remaining for a long time in the current unspeakable state of abandonment, since the realisation of alternative projects to the one of full conservation proposed by us is completely unrealistic.”

Lazio president Claudio Lotito last monthfiled financial documents with the Municipality for the Serie A football club’s proposed redevelopment of the Flaminio.

Should Lazio’s plans come to fruition, the project would cost €438.2m (£372.3m/$485m) and significantly expand the capacity of the stadium to 50,570. Lotito presented a pre-feasibility study for the project to Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, back in December.