Construction Work on the Guardia di Finanza School
The G8 Summit in L'Aquila is to be held in its entirety inside the Guardia di Finanza Inspectors' School in the suburb of Coppito. All of the government leaders and heads of state will be living and working on the campus. The National Civil Protection Department's Di.coma.c (Command and Control Centre) already coordinates post-earthquake activity from this area today, and many of the local institutions have been housed here after their offices were destroyed or seriously damaged in the quake.
Following the technical inspections conducted after the earthquake to certify the habitability of the buildings needed to allow the Di.Coma.c to set up its control centre inside the complex, buildings both inside the complex and in the surrounding area have been restored and adapted to the requirements of an event of the G8 Summit's calibre. This, in an effort to offer the world's eight most important leaders a form of accommodation which, while dignified, is far from luxurious, in keeping with the decision to hold a Summit as austere, as restrained, and as close to the discomfort and inconvenience that the people of Abruzzo are having to put up with, as possible -- a mark of attention testifying to the commitment to impart a fresh boost to the Abuzzo region's economy. Indeed, most of the construction companies and the labour force currently employed on putting the finishing touches to the Guardia di Finanza School hail from the region of Abruzzo.
All of the buildings in the complex have been repainted both inside and out, as has the whole of the perimeter wall which is over two kilometres in length. The whole complex, thus also the auditorium and the gymnasium, has been given a full makeover with targeted intervention wherever it was required; and fully 10 accommodation complexes, comprising a total of approximately 1,000 rooms, have been remodelled.
The campus has also been remodelled in functional terms, with a major part of the work focusing on the accommodation for the heads of state and government leaders, on the complex's water and electric power circuits, and on the working areas where the meetings and informal talks are to be hosted.
Wooden furniture made exclusively in Italy has been used to furnish the rooms that will be hosting the leaders and the delegations. After the G8 Summit, the delegates' lodgings will be used to provide temporary accommodation for the people who have lost their homes in the earthquake. The furniture will then be recycled in the anti-seismic homes which the Civil Protection Department is building for people currently lodged in tent cities and camps. Plans are being finalized to auction the furnishings from the heads of state and government leaders' rooms, with the profit going to help the reconstruction effort in Abruzzo.
All of the technology on the campus, from the phone network to the LAN, has been upgraded ahead of the intense activity expected during the Summit, when the complex will be home to over 6,000 delegates and journalists working 24 hours a day. An optic fibre network has also been installed throughout the complex.
Fully 120 square metres of parkland have also been redesigned. The soil has been cleaned and turned, a lawn has been laid out and fully grown trees and shrubs have been planted.
The L'Aquila G8 Summit venue will be a showcase of exclusively Italian work. The furnishings, the electric vehicles in which the heads of state and government leaders will travel around the complex and the catering which will consist of 100% local Abruzzo cuisine.
