The Project that will rebuild Chiasso through fashion, leisure and sport

«It has been five years since City Hall began doing everything possible to realize the vision, which in the meantime has become a project, to create a new neighborhood that brings Chiasso together, by reconnecting downtown Chiasso and the Soldini Neighborhood».

In this project called Gleis 4, Davide Lurati, head of the Planning Department in the border town, is a great believer. He is very attached to the idea of being able to reconnect the two areas of Chiasso divided by the train tracks. As well as the entire Municipality.

And the Executive’s commitment is slowly bearing fruit. The Gleis 4 project on Tuesday evening was at the center of a meeting requested by the Youth Commission - expanded to include all municipal councilors - with the objective of understanding at which point were the preparations.

An evening with surprises

The evening was all but a summary of known facts. The progress made in the dossier in the past is numerous, so the meeting also revealed some news.

In this context, however, it is also necessary to summarize the intentions of the Municipality (and of its partners, because the project also involves FFS and the Canton). The Gleis 4 plan is split into three stages, each corresponding to three different areas of Chiasso that cover a total area of 35,000 square meters (today occupied by the SBB). The first step concerns the area, of about 4,500 square meters, between viale Manzoni and via Livio. The fashion school will be built there, which should be ready by 2026, that’s the new date, Lurati explains. «There will also be a 3-story underground parking garage, with 250 parking spaces,« he says.

Phase two involves an area of about 11,000 square meters along Viale Manzoni, the area that hosts park-and-rail parking lots. For this zone the novelties are worthy of note. Up until some time ago the idea was to create an area with various functions, which could host both lodgings (perhaps for students), and studios or in a general commercial and administrative capacity. The intention was to give life to a sort of citadel of fashion, given the proximity to the incoming school. «A year and a half ago, SBB, however, changed its strategy - continues Lurati - by deciding that these plots of land would no longer be sold but sold with surface rights». In parallel to this decision, the Canton has asked the City Hall, also considering the lack of sports facilities in the region, if it was willing to include in that area sports and school contents.

« The concept on the table is to create a triplex gymnasium and move the trade schools there. But an all-round reasoning is being done that involves the entire school sector, even the middle schools.» The professionals in charge of these analyses are working on a feasibility study. It should be finalized by the end of the year. «Once we have this study, we will sit around a table - Municipality, Canton and FFS - to decide what to do.» For this stage of the Gleis 4, it is difficult to assume the timing of its realization, «the time horizon is 2025-2030» Lurati is unbalanced.

The last and third stage is the one which has perhaps been discussed the most in recent years. It concerns the area known as Piccola Velocità (Low Speed) in Via Rampa where there are SBB warehouses between the tracks. The idea is to create a subdivision with different contents. «A district in industrial-modern-artistic style that offers different activities during the day (working) and in the evening (entertainment)».

The plan to redevelop this area - or at least the first part of it - was the centerpiece of a planning application submitted by SBB a year ago. The goal was to secure buildings, knock down others and provide space for a recreation area, as well as create parking. But little progress has been made since then. At least until a few weeks ago, when a delegation of the City Hall met with the heads of the Department of Land. «Thanks to that meeting, the situation was released - announces Lurati -, the small planning hiccup that had been created was resolved and it was decided to resubmit the application for construction broken in two. Chiasso will make the request to create the recreation area, while the SBB will take care of the maintenance of the buildings and parking spaces». Chiasso will send the application this month. «The goal is to inaugurate the leisure area by the end of the legislature.»

Lurati concludes by referring to a phrase said by Christian Vitta a few days ago: «It is essential that Lugano goes from being a city that has a university to a university city,« the State Councilor had said. «The same is true for Mendrisiotto - so Lurati -, which must become a living space for university students».