Il Metropolitan of Naples is on the verge of changing ownership. The deadline for submitting bids was set at midnight yesterday.
All the proposals have reportedly been sent to the Cianci notary office in Milan, which has the task of notifying the Intrum – a financial entity specializing in debt collection with headquarters in Milan – the results of the public auction launched in mid-April by Intesa Sanpaolo, current owner of the illustrious Chiaia cinema.
The base price was set at 2,5 million plus VAT.
Intesa Sanpaolo has decided to sell the premises of Cellama Palace, after requesting the current managers, Entertainment system srl, to vacate the structure in recent months. Cinema has aroused the interest of two giants of Neapolitan industry, both of international renown, demonstrating that culture and economy are not incompatible concepts.
Will the Metropolitan remain a place of culture?
The multiplex won't become a supermarket, but there are several possibilities: it could remain one movies, turn into a , or in one cultural factory. The projects presented in the coming months will clarify the direction.
Luciano Schifone, adviser to the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, underlines that whoever buys the premises will have to respect the destination constraint to a cultural activity. Louis Grispello, partner of the current management, expresses the desire that the Metropolitan remain a place of culture.
