Historical Museum at Palazzo Civico: cross-party motion in Lugano

Context

TL;DR

• A motion proposes a historical museum at Palazzo Civico
• Ten city councilors support the request
• The second floor could become available in 2028
• The East Tower of the PSE is planned for relocation

Key facts

• Proposal → historical museum in the spaces of Palazzo Civico
• First signatory → Danilo Baratti, Greens and Independents
• Subscribers → ten city councilors
• Place → Palazzo Civico di Lugano
• Transfer → part of the administration to Cornaredo, East tower of the PSE
• Second floor → office move expected in 2028
• Exhibition → Lugano Belle Époque, extended until 8 January next year
• Building → neoclassical

Ten Lugano city councilors ask to evaluate the setting up of a historical museum in the spaces of Palazzo Civico. The motion is inter-party and has Danilo Baratti, of the Greens and Independents, as its first signatory. The building houses the municipal chancellery, the wedding hall, the municipal offices and the municipal council hall.

The starting point is the transfer, expected in a few years, of part of the city administration to Cornaredo, to the east tower of the sports and events centre, the PSE. The motion looks in particular at the second floor, which would be freed up by the transfer of the municipal administration offices scheduled for 2028. The parliamentary act asks not to leave the future of those environments unaddressed.

According to the promoters, the destination of the spaces should be discussed before any decisions on their use. The text highlights the risk that, in the absence of preliminary reflection on public use, the City will end up granting them to the first commercial bidder. The motion also links this risk to the need to support the considerable rent of the East tower.

A choice about the future of the building

The document defines Palazzo Civico as a public building with a strong symbolic value and calls for a debate on its fate. The request concerns the destination of a part of the spaces that could become available, not the abandonment of the entire building. The deputy mayor of Lugano Roberto Badaracco has in fact stated that the building will not be abandoned.

According to the position expressed by the deputy mayor, Palazzo Civico will remain a point of reference and an institutional headquarters of the City. Legislative sessions will continue to be held in the building, for example. The motion is therefore part of the discussion on how to combine this institutional function with public and cultural use of potentially free spaces.

However, the administrative step is not presented as already completed. The proposal talks about a future transfer and environments that would be freed; the museum is indicated as a hypothesis to be evaluated. The discussion is thus linked to two elements: the transfer to Cornaredo and the definition of the destination of the second floor.

Operational details

The cultural context of the proposal

The motion is inspired by the success and great interest aroused by the photographic exhibition «Lugano Belle Époque. The original look of H.A. Insinger", set up right in Palazzo Civico. The City of Lugano has decided to extend it until January 8th next year. The exhibition is therefore the immediate reference used by the promoters to discuss a possible museum destination for part of the building.

Deputy Mayor Roberto Badaracco expressed satisfaction with the general appreciation of the exhibitions, including those set up in the internal and external atriums. These displays were curated by the Culture Division. The picture described by the source is that of a building that already hosts exhibition initiatives, even if in a way that does not coincide with a stable historical museum.

From the city's memory to a new setup

The parliamentary act connects the museum hypothesis to the history of the City, in its various declinations. The motivation indicated is twofold: on the one hand the historical essence of the neoclassical building itself; on the other hand, the absence, in Lugano's diverse exhibition offering, of a historical museum. The text thus connects the possible museum to the history of the city and to the composition of Lugano's exhibition offering.

Danilo Baratti recalls that a historical-archaeological museum existed in Lugano between 1906 and 1963. In an initial phase it was housed in the Palazzo degli Studi, while later it was located in Villa Ciani. In the following years, plans for a new exhibition were drawn up, but they remained on paper. The reference to this experience places the motion within an exhibition history that already existed, but no longer present in the form of a historical museum.

The motion also mentions the digital experience dedicated to the reconstruction of Trevano Castle. Together with the photographic exhibition currently set up on the internal walls, that experience is recalled to support the possibility of giving greater public and historical content to the spaces. Palazzo Civico already performs an exhibition function today, but only partially and without contextualization of the historical-artistic contents.

The facade itself and the sculptural works housed in the building are linked to the history of the city and the Canton. Furthermore, in the corridors of the first and second floors, objects are exhibited with displays periodically renewed by the Culture Department. These are the elements that the motion considers already present and which it includes in the reflection on a possible historical museum.

Key points

The sequel and the questions still open

For the moment the motion opens an evaluation, but does not establish the start of a museum. Roberto Badaracco said he was willing to explore the proposal further. However, he recalled that the transfer of some of the staff currently serving at Palazzo Civico has not yet been decided. This still leaves it to be defined which environments will actually be available and at what time, without transforming the plan indicated in the deed into an already operational certainty.

The timing of the PSE also remains to be verified. The parliamentary act links the move of the second floor offices to 2028, but the deputy mayor highlighted that he is not sure that the PSE towers will already be built in two years. The hypothesis of freeing up the spaces therefore depends on a transfer towards Cornaredo and the availability of the East tower, elements which the source presents as still to be verified.

Archives, deposits and management

If the planned move were to take place, according to the motion the second floor would make it possible to display other objects currently stored in archives and depots not easily accessible to the public. The reference expands the proposal beyond the works and objects already visible in the corridors. The hypothesized historical museum would therefore also potentially contain materials not currently on display, if the freed spaces were used for this function.

However, the question of management remains open. Badaracco warned: «A permanent museum would involve the presence of a permanent curator». The presence of a curator is one of the points to consider in the evaluation.

The follow-up indicated by the motion is therefore a debate on the fate of the Palazzo Civico and an in-depth analysis of the proposal. No definitive decision on the setup has been reported: on the one hand, the transfer of staff is still uncertain; on the other hand, the timing of the PSE towers remains to be verified. The discussion will have to keep together the question of the cultural destination and the functions already present in the building. The next step documented by the source therefore remains an evaluation, while the spaces, times and methods of a possible museum are still the subject of discussion.

Source: laregione.ch