San Siro, home of AC Milan and Inter, is one step closer to be demolish and one step closer of rebuilding the new San Siro.
According to an opinion from the authority to the Milan municipality which owns the site, despite being widely known as a historic stadium, it does not have any architectural significance.
Also known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, it has gone through several redevelopments throughout its history, and only a small remnant of the oldest part of the stadium, built in 1926, is left.
This means demolition could finally happened after months of plans to replace the nearly century-old arena, sometimes dubbed “La Scala del Calcio” (“Soccer’s La Scala”) — a reference to Milan’s famous opera house.
Although approval from heritage authorities is not the final decision, it is an important step towards implementing the plan.
Milan’s mayor Giuseppe Sala, had repeatedly questioned plans to tear down San Siro, forcing both clubs to modify initial projects which would have seen the entire stadium demolished.
AC Milan and Inter currently under discussion of tearing down most of the old arena but keeping part of it as city landmark which the clubs would build new sport facilities available to the public.
Milan is owned by U.S. fund Elliott while Inter is owned by Chinese electronic retailer Suning.
Both clubs filed a request to jointly build a new 60,000-seater stadium in the San Siro.
The new stadium is the key element in a wider €1.2 billion real estate plan for the district, which includes demolishing almost all of the historic San Siro arena.