A city of rebirth: the new one was presented, 12 years after the fire. A major €77 million project for the future of younger generations.
Twelve years after the devastating fire that destroyed one of the symbols of Southern Italy's culture and innovation, Naples is writing a new chapter: the new Science Centre is born, the heart of the revitalization of the City of Science.
It's a concrete response to the wound of 2013, when an arson attack destroyed a center of excellence in just a few hours. Since then, amidst judicial investigations (the only defendant, the former security guard, was acquitted on appeal in 2024) and bureaucratic obstacles, the scientific and civil communities have tenaciously awaited this moment.
The Campania Region and the Idis Foundation today unveiled the design for the new facility, which will span over 66 cubic meters with a usable floor area of nearly 10 square meters. The total investment is €77 million, of which the first €22 million—from reactivated 2007-2013 FSC funds—have already been allocated. With the preliminary investigation phase complete, the tender process is now awaited, with the goal of opening construction in early 2026.
"We are giving back to the community a place that was damaged but never forgotten ," said an emotional Riccardo Villari, president of the Idis Foundation. "We faced difficult years, starting with €20 million in debt and employees without salaries. Today, with heads held high, we can say that we are winning the challenge of revitalization."
Alongside him, Campania Regional President Vincenzo De Luca called the project "a source of pride for Naples, for Campania, and for the entire country." Because the City of Science is more than just a museum: it is an infrastructure that looks to the future, to younger generations, and to science as a driver of development and citizenship.
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It's wonderful to see how, after all this time, a new project for the City of Science is starting again. Let's hope there are no more bureaucratic problems this time and that it can finally open in 2026 as planned.