Saturday 12 April will be a special day for Brissago and its community. After many years of waiting and discussions, at the end of a long design process, Casa Branca Baccalà will finally open its doors. Brissago thus finds a jewel of its past, and the eighteenth-century Palace is ready to return as a protagonist of the cultural and social life of the country. In addition to the municipal authorities, the inauguration will also be attended by the President of the Council of State, Christian Vitta, and the President of the Grand Council, Michele Guerra. The ribbon cutting is scheduled at 11.40, after the blessing of Casa Branca Baccalà by the parish priest, Don Pascal Burri.

Veronica Marcacci Rossi: ‘A flagship for Brissago’

“This building is a flagship for Brissago – says Mayor Veronica Marcacci Rossi – and has already been enthusiastically welcomed by the population: In fact, several people have asked to visit it with a view to possible uses, while I recall that our elderly have already had the opportunity to inaugurate the spaces intended for them with the Christmas toast”.

With regard to destinations, the mayor stresses the versatility of the building and adds that ‘if it took the House 50 years to achieve this splendor, there is no hurry to define its functions. We are open to listening: A brilliant idea is often enough to help give a new life to a place.”

Ottavio Palmieri: “From topic of discussion to reality”

The important thing is that, today, the prestigious building is once again accessible as a whole, on every floor and in every room. This was also underlined by the head of the Dicastery for Culture, Ottavio Palmieri, pointing out that the building has moved from a ‘theme of discussion to a concrete reality. Certainly, as in any major work, some details remain to be refined, but the time has come to look to the future and give space to the new opportunities that this building can offer to the community.”

Veronica Marcacci Rossi also underlines the contribution made during the past legislature by former colleagues: its predecessor Roberto Ponti and the municipal Ivo Storelli, who followed the long and meticulous restoration work step by step, being a protected building.

Purchased by the Municipality in 1976, the Palace was the subject of conservative interventions between the early 1980s and 2000. Then, everything stopped due to lack of funds. And the restructuring was possible, as the former mayor Ponti recalled two years ago in this editorial space, ‘thanks to the donation of a private citizen, who made one million francs available, and to the contribution of the canton, which amounts to half a million’.

The architect: respect for the past and the needs of the present

The restoration work, carried out by the architect Stefano Garbani Nerini, has thus returned to the community one of the most significant and valuable buildings in Locarno, preserving its historical value while adapting it to new needs for public use.

‘In summary,’ explains the designer, ‘we can say that the intervention aimed to bring order to a complex historical stratification, without pursuing a philological restoration linked to a single era, but enhancing the valuable elements’.

A complex project, marked by architectural challenges and an evolution of the intended use, which is now finally realized.

A building protected since 1911

“In the restoration – explains Endrio Ruggiero, head of the Office of Cultural Heritage – we monitored compliance with cantonal and federal rules on the protection of heritage”. And one of the most delicate issues, he adds, was the delicate balance between historical conservation and the regulatory requirements linked to the public use of the Palace – a protected asset since 1911 –, therefore structural safety, fire prevention, accessibility and plant engineering.

The inauguration on 12 April will be the symbolic moment marking the rebirth of the building that historian Virgilio Gilardoni called ‘the finest example of stately baroque in the Upper Lake Maggiore region’.

The program of the day

10:15 – Beginning of the ceremony with cannon salutes
10:30 – Philharmonic: Saint George
10:35 – Speech by Veronica Marcacci Rossi
10:45 – Speech by Barbara Riepl
10:55 – Philharmonic: Geburtstagsmarsch
11:00 – Speech by the President of the Grand Council, Michele Guerra
11:10 – Speech by the President of the Council of State, Christian Vitta
11:20 – Swiss Psalm
11:30 – Blessing by the parish priest of Brissago
11:40 – Cutting tape
11:50 – Dance Corps
12:15 – Standing lunch and visit of the Palace