Sacred Heart Center in Rome Re-opens
The courtyard of the Salesian center
is currently much freer than it was from March 2022; yet not all the work has
yet been completed. “The official opening to complete the works is scheduled
for June, on the occasion of the solemnity of the Sacred Heart,” explained Fr.
Luca Barone, legal representative of the work. “But the Salesian community is
celebrating now for two reasons: on the one hand, because this is how the general
council, which has promoted and accompanied the work from its beginning, until can
participate; and on the other hand, because the huge Sacred Heart construction
site has only been possible thanks to the commitment of many people, from
various different companies, some of which are now about to complete their part
of the work. This ‘internal’ opening, therefore, is to say a complete thank you
to all the people involved.”
The first meeting concerning
the restoration of the Sacred Heart complex took place on July 17, 2020. Involved
were the Rector Major, his vicar, the treasurer general, and the Miotto
engineering and architecture studio in Padua, coordinated by Salesian Brother
Giampietro Pettenon. The Rector Major appointed Bro. Pettenon to this task. From
that meeting, the first research and collection of the necessary documentation
and planning of operational activities began.
2021 was the year of the
preliminary phases: the drafting of plans and research, document analysis, and
the request for complex authorizations. The actual work began in April 2022.
The large construction site
involved the entire quadrilateral of the Salesian headquarters, which occupies
an entire block in the center of Rome, exactly in front of the city’s central
railway station, Termini Station: from April to October 2022 the side on via
Magenta was worked on; from October 2022 to July 2023 the one on via Marghera;
then it was the turn of the entrance side on via Marsala, from August 2023 to
March 2024; and finally, from April to December 2024, the part overlooking via
Vicenza.
Particularly worthy note is that
the interventions concerned the structure from the foundations to the roof, to
make the building eco-sustainable and compliant with the most up-to-date laws
and best practices in terms of energy savings.
Other special interventions
were carried out to create new environments rich in meaning, such as the Chapel
of the Word – the new chapel of the community – or the Chapel of the Letter –
in memory of Don Bosco’s very important May 10, 1884 letter from Rome. Other alterations
were necessary for several special environments such as the Little Rooms of Don
Bosco in Rome and their transformation into the Don Bosco Museum, or the space
of the former theater below the basilica.
Although activities in the basilica
of the Sacred Heart and in the central offices have never paused – even with
the temporary transfer, internally or outside, of some services – a total of
about 160,000 sq. ft. of surface have been restored thanks to the work of 14
companies, coordinated by Studio Miotto. “The parties involved met once a week,
and 170 sets of minutes of meetings and operational decisions were produced!” Fr.
Barone says.
Located in the heart of Rome, the
Salesian work, like the rest of the city center, faces particular constraints
of historical architectural protection and logistical and organizational
considerations. In addition, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the
increase in market costs around the world affected the supply of materials and made
the work more challenging.
Hence it is with special
satisfaction that the Salesians at Sacred Heart are now celebrating this “internal”
opening, waiting to share their joy next June with church and civil officials,
institutions, all the faithful, and everyone who frequents this center of
spirituality and social activity.
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