Florence plans for leisure boats on Arno

Florence plans for leisure boats on Arno

The city of Florence, in collaboration with the Regione Toscana, announced late yesterday the results of a “concorso” (competition) to provide leisure boats for tourists on the Arno. This is part of a larger requalification project that the city will complete by the year 2059 (please see www.

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Thu 19 Nov 2009 1:00 AM

The city of Florence, in collaboration with the Regione Toscana, announced late yesterday the results of a “concorso” (competition) to provide leisure boats for tourists on the Arno. This is part of a larger requalification project that the city will complete by the year 2059 (please see www.Firenze2059.com for further information). A date for the boat launch has not yet been specified.

 

After experiments with Venetian gondolas on the Arno a few years ago, city officials feel that the gondola is not sufficiently representative of Florence, and a concorso was announced for the development of a leisure boat system more appropriate to the city’s artistic heritage. The winning proposal involves golden sea-shells inspired by Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The photo displayed here is, however, just a mock-up. It is likely that the life-size fiberglass figure of Venus be reduced to a token symbol, much like the winged figure on the front of the Rolls Royce.

 

The boats will be available on the Arno only after the riverbank and water requalification project is complete. With the success of the beach along the Arno this past summer, city officials hope to expand the viability of the riverfront. This will involve a major banks cleaning project and potentially the replacement of much of the river’s water, expenses that will be repaid both in tourist dollars and through the environmental improvement that will attract birdlife and aquatic animals to the Arno. The hope is that the Arno will, in the future, become a destination for water sports and leisure.

 

Further Info:

Website: www.Firenze2059.com

blog: http://Firenze2059.tumblr.com

twitter: @Firenze2059

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