Italy’s Culture Ministry has stated that the long-needed restoration of the Colosseum in Rome will be complete by 2013:
(ANSA) – Rome, September 13 – A long-awaited restoration of the Colosseum should be finished by 2013, Italian Culture Undersecretary Francesco Giro announced on Monday. “The restoration will involve the entire amphitheatre and will cost around 30 million euros,” the undersecretary said. A plan to fund the restoration through commercial sponsorship, launched in spring, is now well under way, he added.
Tenders for the work have been invited, and once the new ‘sponsor’ of the Colosseum has been selected, they, the sponsor, will choose the contractors. Fears that a few years down the line we’ll be viewing ‘The Colosseum, bought to you by (insert name of corporate monster here)’ have been downplayed by the Mayor of Rome:
Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno has also guaranteed that sponsoring firms will not be allowed to put their names on the giant tarpaulin sheets masking the scaffolding during the restoration work.
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