The project concerns the construction of a new area for sports and recreational use of approximately 68,000 square meters located south-west of the city of Tortona, in the area of ​​San Guglielmo.

To the south-west of the city of Tortona (AL), in the area of San Guglielmo, the Cittadella dello Sport project, financed by the Gavio family, will be built. It envisages the construction of a sports hall that will be able to accommodate up to 5,000 spectators in addition to several multifunctional sports fields and areas for recreational activities. Its strategic location near the A7 motorway will make it a pole of attraction for the surrounding urban areas as well.

The new facility, designed by the architectural firm Barreca & La Varra of Milan, will be dedicated to the founders of the Group, Marcellino and Pietro Gavio, and will represent a centre of aggregation for the city of Tortona, its territory, young people and their families, with spaces and facilities for leisure time, sport and culture, as well as being the new home of Derthona Basket. The Tortona Citadel of Sport will cover an area of about 68,000 square metres, and will include a new sports area with pavilions for catering, information and leisure activities, and appurtenant parking areas. The focal point of the project will be the new Palazzetto, destined mainly for Bertram Derthona’s basketball matches but also for shows and concerts, with a floor area of about 5,200 square metres and a roofing diameter of about 80 metres, and Derthona’s new headquarters, a two-storey building above ground level, with the team’s training ground, offices and meeting rooms.

The Palazzetto building consists of a basement, where the changing rooms and some technical rooms are located, the ground floor and two upper levels. Spectator access takes place on the ground floor in direct continuity with the outdoor space through entrances cut into a green hill that surrounds the Palazzetto throughout its development. The horizontal paths unfold internally by means of a continuous ring onto which some commercial spaces and services overlook. The grandstands are accessed from here, and there is the possibility of reaching the first or second ring via punctual vertical connections. On the first floor there will be a number of emergency exits connecting the interior with the exterior walkway, the latter of which can be reached from the ground floor via a system of stairs cut into the hillside. Here the separation of interior and exterior with glass windows allows natural lighting of the ground floor walkway. The second floor, which houses the press areas, lounge areas and emergency exits, appears as a ‘disc’ delimiting the outdoor walkway. The roof of the Palazzetto will be practicable, accessible by a system of stairs from the outside, and used mainly for leisure activities of the team and the citizens of Tortona. Part of it will be occupied by a sheet of water.

The construction site started in October 2021.