PORTELLO, A PIECE OF HISTORY

We have already told you about "I Guardiani del Portello" (The Guardians of Portello). who for some time now have been working to save what remains of the historic Alfa Romeo factory at Portello between Via De Gasperi and Via Serra in Milan. This group of friends, which we have also joined, had approached the Milan administration and the company that owns the area to ask that the boundary wall, the guardhouse and the old metal gate not be demolished due to landscaping.

Thanks to the Guardians, the gate of the old factory has not been thrown away but has been moved (it is now at the home of the friends of Alfa Blue Team): the basic idea is to restore it and make it part of the new park, where it will be a monument to the memory of Alfa Romeo's great past. 

We are very happy with this result and can only thank the Guardians for their tireless work and dedication to the cause!

Unfortunately, while the iron gate was saved, the boundary wall and the guardhouse were demolished: it was impossible to preserve them, as the plan of the intervention foresaw the passage of a large underground pipeline that could not be diverted in any way due to the surrounding urban development.

We went to take a photo of the wall and the gatehouse before they were demolished.

the idea is to restore the metal gate and place it in the green park that will be created in the area, as a monument in memory of the alfa romeo plant at portello, an important industrial reality for the city of milan

What could we, as a museum, do?

We couldn't rebuild the boundary wall and the guardhouse brick by brick in our exhibition space (at least, not without the advice of our legendary architects Gabriele and Oscar Buratti!) and so we decided to welcome at least one of those bricks to the museum. 

Our director Elisabetta went directly to the demolition site (thanks to the invitation of Gianluca Rovero of the Registro Italiano Giulia) and brought to Legnano a brick of the boundary wall and a bolt from the tracks, then placed them in a transparent case with a descriptive plaque (donated to the museum by Rovero together with the Registro Italiano Giulia) in our Cozzi.Lab, the brain and archive of the Fratelli Cozzi Museum. 

A piece of history of the great Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili in Milano Portello has become part of our collection: come and see it?