Renovations are underway for two historic parts of Florence’s urban and industrial heritage. The San Salvi area and the former Seves factory are both set to be transformed, modernized and brought back to life, the former involving a total renewal of the 32-hectare park and its buildings, the latter soon to be taken over by Leo France, the Florentine fashion company.
Seves shut its doors in 2014 following almost a decade of decline, its social safety net having run out. On September 12, the project’s sponsor and member of the Pinzauti family, owners of Leo France, Lorenzo Pinzauti, officially launched the project, with the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, in attendance. Leo France will begin to move its entire production centre to the factory, which will take place over five to six years, transferring 350 employees to the new site and gradually releasing investments into the project that could amount to 20 – 30 million euro.
The San Salvi area, northeast of the historic centre, has been subject to many renovation attempts over the decades, having slowly fell into disrepair after the city’s psychiatric hospital was ordered closed in 1978. Now, 40 years later, a plan has finally been settled to relaunch the area, which will not only safeguard its history but also its position as a place of public use. The main part of the area will continue to host ASL’s administrative and public health services, while alongside this, plans have been proposed to strengthen the local grade school and University of Florence’s Department of Psychology, headquartered in the area.
Three quarters of the park will be open to the public, with a portion improved for the neighbourhood’s residents thanks to more sports facilities, a cultural centre for theatre performances and spaces to host exhibitions about the history of San Salvi. To finance the project, part of an early version of the plan, proposed in 2007, will be carried over that includes the construction of 120 apartments in the heart of the park, which are expected to generate the 25 million euro needed to continue the renovation. Start dates for building the residential complexes have yet to be announced.
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