150 days to give the young students of the “E. De Amicis” school a functional and safe building.

The formal handover of the “keys” to the construction site by Mayor Mario Baroni to the Vice Chair Veronica Berti Bocelli and the President of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation Laura Biancalani marks the official opening of the site which will give Muccia the new pre-school and elementary school.

“Since the inception of ABF, Andrea and I have strongly desired to be able to be close to our country, offering our contribution to people close to us, just as if they were our “neighbors” – says Veronica Berti Bocelli, ABF Vice-Chair – “and, with the first school rebuilt last year in Sarnano and to now kick-off this new project here in Muccia, for us this is a great and renewed reason of motivation to continue to deserve the affection and the warm welcome that we receive”.

After witnessing together the demolition of the remains of the old facility, today the children, their families and the local administration got together again to welcome the technical teams that will be working at the site over the coming months.

“A promise made to a child is a promise that must be safeguarded and respected – states Laura Biancalani, ABF President – because thanks to that kept promise we will be able to restore trust and hope in the future. The constant dialog with the community will allow us to carry out a project which we hope can go beyond the emergency to become another concrete sign of rebirth for the entire town of Muccia”.

“After more than two years since the earthquake the fear has not abandoned us, the earth keeps trembling, but today the strongest feeling that guides us is Hope, the main driver for Muccia. – says the Mayor Mario Baroni The desire to start again is strong and thanks to the Andrea Bocelli Foundation it will become a reality in a few months with a new facility that will welcome our children and the entire community.”

The project for the new facility will include the construction of one wing for the pre-school and another for the elementary school. In addition to classrooms, there will also be areas for music, art and group activities, both for children and the entire community. The total surface is almost 1000 square meters and the facility will feature large spaces, designed to become sharing areas, to be used for informal lessons or working groups, for reading books or simply socializing.

The building will be entirely built with prefabricated wooden elements. The “Platform Frame” technology with wooden frames, applied during the construction, guarantees the highest grade of resistance to earthquake shocks and certifies the building as a Class IV facility (pursuant to the latest Buildings Technical Standards of 2018) i.e. the rating applied to important public or strategic buildings also related to the work of the Italian Civil Protection Department during natural disasters”. The wooden construction, with strong insulation walls, together with underfloor heating, a photo voltaic and thermal solar system and air treatment units with heat recovery systems and air-to-air heat pumps – guarantees the highest comfort and energy saving standards. The facility will be classified as a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB).

Over the last few months, Italian businesses and families have sent many donations, demonstrating their closeness and a strong spirit of solidarity.

The Andrea Bocelli Foundation had decided to dedicate the SMS Solidarity Fundraising Campaign that took place last September to the Muccia project. Thanks to the hospitality and the support received by Rai Sociale and the “Notte di Andrea Bocelli” broadcast on Rai Uno on September 9 at 9.25 pm, 270K euro were raised.

“I would like the new school to have a multicolored wall” – “I would like it to have many green tables” – “I wish we could always play ball”. These are just some of the many wishes of the young students who, with thrilled and curious eyes, look at the project plan board of their new school.

You can follow the progress of the construction of the new school in real time on: https://www.andreabocellifoundation.org/projects/reconstruction-pre-school-primary-school-municipality-muccia-central-italy-earthquake-intervention/