The first problem is that, like almost every professional football clubs in Italy, is that Fiorentina does not own stadio Artemio Franchi, but I hope they'll work out a deal like Udinese and Juventus did. Actually I'd like all the clubs to work out deals like those.
It will be a problem for Fiorentina to build in and around Florence. The Belle Arti is very strict and has bureaucratic almost communist like thinkers running the show that prevent anyone to build and/or tear down anything. On the way to Fiesole, its almost unheard of that a newer stadium could be built and I doubt it would be built near the city center or even outside the walls. Maybe closer to the Amerigo Vespucci airport (Peretola) or near Sesto Fiorentino and Lastra Signa but that would be a lot further outside of town. I hope I'm wrong and even though Diego Della Valle can pull strings, knowing the way things are built in Tuscany, I don't think a new stadium will happen for either Fiorentina, Livorno or Siena anytime soon.
We're definitely not getting a new stadium any time soon, with all of the renovations and changes that have been done to it.
Primise: I'm not a Fiorentina tifoso and I don't know where exactely the stadium is located (Falvo, you know better, really) or even the exact shape of it, but... My hope is that they can have the stadium almost for free like Juventus and Udinese did, and then rebuild it as a soccer-specific stadium on the same site (maybe in stages, like Udinese is doing). Anyway, everywhere in Italy we have problems with arts and archeology, even in a middle-sized city like mine (Vicenza). Maybe only cities like Latina or Carbonia that were grounded during the fascism regime does not have those problems... maybe!
Actually, the Artemio Franchi (formerly Stadio Comunale Giovanni Berta & Stadio Comunale) was initially opened in 1932 during Benito's fascism and its located in the neighborhood of Campo di Marte near Florence's other or secondary train station. It was built for the 1934 World Cup games and then restructured before the 1990 tournament held in Italy. Its a nice stadium but it does need work. The way Italy's crisis is going, it will take a miracle to build another grounds.
this is quite funny really, if they cant take the barriers down because they cant trust the fans then surely they should question wether they should be letting these people in, obviously this goes for all clubs not just fio
I know the history of the stadium, it's almost the same for every stadium built in that period in Italy, from Ancona to Viterbo. Juventus rebuilt their stadium with their own money, and Udinese is doing the same. I heard that also Napoli is looking into that: having the ground where the San Paolo sits almost for free (actually is a 99-year loan) and rebuild the stadium taking the money from De Laurentiis pockets.
I'm sorry but the stadium for me is great, the general structure is one that you couldn't find it England and I personally think it is magnificent, I don't know but I feel as if it is Unique.
I try not to get too excited about these sorts of things, Italy and all, but supposedly a covered 40k-seater at the Mercafir has been agreed. The finalization is just a "formality." 180M Euros investment, probably with Chinese partners.
Actually, I don't like it. I mean the roof is nice, but the way the seats go around the field in a circle like they do just keeps the fans further from where the action takes place. A big problem with many of the stadiums in Italy is that they were all built with tracks around them and so the fans are far away (especially behind the goals). In the rendering there's no track, but with the stands in a circle like that we're still kept far away. I really hope they go with something else.
Fair enough. I hadn't noticed that. You're right that the fans are too far away in Italian stadia. With the crumbling conditions of most of the stadiums in Italy almost anything would be an upgrade though.
I'd agree with this 100%. This is the mistake they made with the Delle Alpi, you need the fans right there near the pitch.
I'm not sure if the stadium was built with rugby in mind. I just think it was poorly planned and the seats behind the goal were built way too far away from the action.
Did they bring the stands in from the sides then? I don't remember a track around it. It was 24 years ago, so the memory is a little fuzzy. I saw two games at the Olimpico in Roma (Italia-Austria & Italia-USA), one in Artemio Franchi (USA-Austria) & the San Siro (West Germany-Netherlands).