The mayor of San Donato, Francesco Squeri, has described the chance to have AC Milan’s stadium in the area as an ‘unrepeatable opportunity’.
Speaking during an interview with il Cittadino, Squeri spoke glowingly about the idea of Milan having their new stadium in his region of the city.
It seems that San Donato is the favoured part of the city for the club who are going to build a stadium separately from Inter.
There are still concerns about the area as it lies in total decay. In a video from Il Cittadino di Lodi, you can see waste of all types, an abandoned ruin, tall weeds and widespread drug dealing.
As has been highlighted by Squerti, whilst he views this is a great opportunity, he knows that Milan have not fully ruled out other areas of the city just yet.
Below you can read all of Squeri’s comments from the interview.
On the project…
“The Milan stadium will be an unrepeatable opportunity for the city. I’m sure that if Enrico Mattei were alive, he would be in favour of this intervention, developing the area with a project of international calibre, created by one of the most important architecture firms in the world.”
Is the construction of the stadium now certain?
“At the moment, Milan haven’t ruled out possible alternatives in Milano, and we also have the go through the preliminary investigation phase of the project. After that, a variation request must be presented to the city council. There are no certainties yet, but there is a strong interest from the club, which was made official by the documents presented to the council for SportLifeCity [the stadium area project, editor’s note].”
What do you say to the “no” camp that is waging a battle against this work?
“I say that the doubts are legitimate and I’m ready for the discussion, which will be based on real documents and data. I’m only disappointed when I see incorrect data being disclosed, such as the unfounded hypothesis that 15 thousand parking spaces will be built in the Parco Sud area, when in reality we are talking about a maximum of 750 parking spaces.”
Could the process be completed by 2025?
“These are times that on a technical level are in line with the process we will face.”
Are there any aspects that worry you?
“I’m certainly aware of the fact that we will need to work a lot on roads and mobility in order to mitigate any inconvenience. And from this point of view, we are talking about services and prospects that will not only benefit the fans who go to the matches, but will improve traffic circulation and the quality of public transport with benefits for all citizens and commuters of Southern Milano. For example, in the dialogue I will have regarding the railways, I will first of all ask to transform the San Donato train stop into a real station.”
