AcquaSpa: a dive into the urban decay.
3 min read
This water park and wellness center, located in Pantigliate, at the gates of Milan and inaugurated in 2005, was completely abandoned in 2014. The abandoned Aquapark was divided into Blue Lagoon, which was the area for adults and had 10 types of water slides, including the Black Cannon for the most daring, and Laguna Baby, the area for children aged 2 to 10 years. Within the aquaspa there were swimming pools, sauna and massage rooms, as well as gyms and a sport hall.
What, until a few years ago, was considered the crown jewel of the city, just at the gate of Milan, is now in a state of total degradation. The water park was certainly an attraction very popular on summertimes and, in the winter, welcomed its guests by cradling them in the spa’s whirlpools.
There were also a sports hall and two swimming pools: one for courses and free swimming and another for disabled people. Then the slow decline, culminating in the bankruptcy of Biffi SpA, the company that had won the contract to build the resort.
Maintenance work not performed, less attention to hygiene, cold water due to the malfunctioning boiler have been the cause of continuous complaints in the last year of activities culminating with its definitive closure at the end of August 2014.
In fact, If you do a Google research, its reviews are still available on Tripadvisor: if at first people gave good reviews, the last ones said that the staff was surly and the structures had some defects.
A certainly very complex and full of question marks, ended up in the hands of lawyers in a mutual exchange of accusations between majority and opposition. The ball then passed from the hands of the bankruptcy trustee to that of the Municipality itself. Having obtained the keys to the building, it seemed like a thing done: the Municipal Administration started looking for solutions that would allow it to be reopened as soon as possible. However, that year the structure remained close.
Typical Italian history therefore: it seems that the building would have been transformed, during the year of inactivity, into a temple of degradation due to neglect, theft of material and acts of vandalism.
And now, the whole structure, which obviously has never reopened, is a real disaster. The outdoor pools are covered with a muddy layer in which every kind ob objects floats. Bins, cans, plastic bottles, bags still full of garbage, all surrounded with a very tall grass in a place inhabited by a gigantic population of frogs that are born and grow undisturbed in the swampy outdor swimming pools. A bunch of deckchairs pilled on top of each other remains inside the dressroom to remember the better times. Inside the environment is not in a better state. Some gym tools remain, paradoxically still in good condition and functioning, in the midst of general desolation.
Just a curiosity: here the italian “singer” Young Signorino has shot the video clip of the “song” Vestito Nudo, in video below.
It seems that the young “artist” has been denounced by the mayor of Pantigliate, after he published on YouTube the video of his new “success”, about a year ago. The motivation? He entered the area without asking permission, an area that, ironically, is really accessible to everyone!
