It is with this spirit that Teamnetwork, through S.P.E.R.O. S.r.l., has decided to use its energies and resources to recover an abandoned and very run-down area of Siracusa to give it back to the public use and at the same time offer the city an opportunity for redemption and recovery. The concept that the sea and the port can, and must, continue to be a resource for the community, but in updated and modern terms, has now been accepted. The redevelopment of city waterfronts and their transit from industrial or post-industrial contexts to urban contexts is now a common theme and has been greatly present on the design scene 

in recent years. The area concerned by the Project, the stretch of coastline in Siracusa between the Regina Canal and the Air Force base, comes within an urban area which is effectively the south-western gate to the city for those going to the historical centre of the city – and today incapable, with all the contradictions and inadequacies that distinguish it, of supporting the weight of comparison with the historical nucleus that stands out nearby. These sites, where the strong expectation for a new urban identity, allowing a genuine and extensive improvement of the environment, the landscape and therefore the quality of life, is tangible, are also those designated by the Community to revive the city and its economy. The Administrations – municipal, provincial and regional – fully agreeing with this necessity, have already defined and decided (at the multiple levels of planning) that the solution of a new equilibrium for the urban structure and the economic recovery and upgrading of the image of the city must be via the redevelopment of the port area and its waterfront. The redevelopment of the coastline is realized with the adoption by the Council Meeting of Resolution no. 92 of 29/09/2003, the General Scheme of the new Port Planning Scheme (PRP) and is consolidated through the redevelopment of the port of Siracusa as a tourist marina with the exclusion of the commercial function. The Town Planning Scheme (PRG) also includes the topic of redevelopment of the waterfront as one of the priority aspects for the city of tomorrow.

The purpose of Porto Grande – the large bay that stretches immediately south of Siracusa that has been recognized and defined as the most sustainable one and which is closes to the original bond between man and the sea (connected with sailing out of curiosity, culture and pleasure) – is confirmed and must come about in the short term, i.e. quality pleasure sailing. The Project, called “Marina di Sira
cusa”, faithfully reflects current planning tools, with the positive conclusion of the phase of approval of the Preliminary project, with the acquisition of all the opinions of the authorities at the Conference of Services on 21/07/2009. How

The area selected by the port planning scheme (PRP) for the location of the tourist marina was the object of attentive thought and in-depth debate by the technical board, established specifically by the Town Council and in which the Board of Cultural Heritage and Environmental Conservation played an active part. The site in question comes under what is called by the UNESCO the “Buffer Zone” and is unquestionably the most dilapidated part in the perimeter of the “Porto Grande” of Siracusa. The local council therefore considered that it was the most suitable place to locate the new marina: in the first place because this would redevelop an area compromised from the environmental point of view, in the second place due to its particular orography. The very curved shape of the coastline, which in this point creates an oxbow, would make the marina virtually invisible from the historical centre of Ortigia and invisible from the Archaeological Park of Neapolis, which are “Core Zones” for UNESCO.

The guiding concept of the Project was therefore to create a welcoming and hospitable urban place, for all visitors, the city’s inhabitants and guests, whether pleasure sailors or not. Special attention has been given to creating a harmonious whole with the landscape, through low-impact structures, well inserted into the context, with special architectonic care. The use of all the solutions and tools for environmental conservation will improve the quality of the water and sea beds, which are today poor. The Project meets in full all the standards of quality (functional, aesthetic and of environmental sustainability), which are also included in the “Strategic Plan of
Development of Pleasure sailing in Sicily” (chapter 8 2006), and scrupulously complies with the requisites of good technical practice indicated by the PIANC, the international organization for sailing infrastructures, and a technical reference which has been recognized for 125 years.

Strong points:

It implements a will that has already been expressed by the community
The Project implements the decisions already taken by the local community (General Scheme of the Port Planning Scheme) with these areas reserved for sailing;

It complies with the natural vocation of the sites
The Porto Grande of Siracusa is a suitable location for a “sailing pole”, with the possibility of berths for yachts and an offer of services of excellence;

It revives traditional arts and trades
The sailing pole brings with it the renewed demand for boatyards where workers, whose trade is being lost (shipwrights etc.) can be reconverted);

It develops the peculiarities of the landscape and of the environment
The area of Pantanelli and the stretch of coastline in front of it, enjoy three important points of potential: bordering on the town centre to the north, on the Ciane-Saline Natural Reserve to the south and with a spectacular view of the sea on Porto Grande;

It recovers and restores an abandoned area for the enjoyment of the community
The site in question, strongly characterized by the presence of a former industrial area, is marginalized from the town planning point of view: it can only find a new value of attraction through the creation of a quality sailing pole which provides complete services to pleasure sailors and for sailing and which at the same 

time offers the townspeople and tourists a pleasant urban area and which can therefore contribute to developing widespread good quality of life;

Social acceptability of the work
The tourist landing is conceived as an “open marina” as it contemplates a series of services open to the territory which will generate a positive social impact;

It triggers off virtuous mechanisms of urban redevelopment
The stretch of the waterfront concerned, today very rundown, is a town planning resource that is of utmost importance for the future of Siracusa;

It produces positive economic effects
The work will have positive effects on employment with the creation of new jobs, both direct and in related sectors, and the consolidation of existing employment in trade, tourism, cultural activities, small and medium businesses and the services related to these sectors.

When
The “Marina di Siracusa” Project has positively passed the phase of approval of the “Preliminary Project” and, following this, has obtained the go-ahead for the presentation of the “Final Project”, which was delivered to the authorities in April 2011.From the completion of the process of approval, the work will take 4 years, involving a total of 400 people. When operating, 250 people will be employed, including both directly and in related sectors.