A good argument

With the construction of the Gissi Sports Hall, the municipality has sent a strong signal against the urban exodus.

Gissi lies in the hilly land­scape of the Provincia di Chieti on the edge of the Apen­nine Moun­tains. With just over two and a half thousand inha­bi­tants, the Italian muni­ci­pa­lity is quite mana­geable and also very old – even the Romans settled in the area, which is shaped by viney­ards and fruit and olive trees. Wine lovers parti­cu­larly appre­ciate the area since the grapes for the popular Monte­pul­ciano d’Abruzzo grow here.

But like almost all small towns in central and southern Italy, it is not easy to get resi­dents to stay. To make a change here, the muni­ci­pa­lity decided to build a multi-purpose hall prima­rily used as a play­ground and gymna­sium, as well as reno­vating the outdoor areas and crea­ting a foot­ball pitch made of arti­fi­cial turf.

The new sports hall takes a central posi­tion in the public life of Gissi. It is clearly visible from the town hall, the stadium and the swim­ming pool.

The archi­tects of Beatrice Comelli archi­tetto have divided the volume into two levels. The entrance level is open and trans­pa­rent. It was clad with poly­car­bo­nate, which has an enormous signal­ling effect when illu­mi­nated. The pitch level, on the other hand, was lowered and is made of concrete.

Now volleyball, basketball, skating and social events are part of the Gissi community’s offerings. 

This buil­ding project was also urgently needed because there had previously been no gymna­sium at all, meaning that the sports faci­li­ties were not suffi­cient either for primary or secon­dary school pupils living in the village, nor for the public and parti­cu­larly not for the local volley­ball team. It is part of the ASD Sport­land asso­cia­tion, which was founded in 2010 with the aim of provi­ding the resi­dents of Gissi with more sporting and social oppor­tu­ni­ties – inclu­ding volley­ball, basket­ball, skating, and summer acti­vi­ties for children and young people.

To make way for the new multi-purpose hall, an older part of the middle school buil­ding was demo­lished and replaced by the new sports hall.

We contri­buted to the rede­sign by supp­lying a two-tone Polytan Indoor GYM Point surface in blue and ochre. This point-elastic indoor sports floor is flexible and ther­e­fore shock-absor­bent, which is espe­ci­ally important for children’s and school sports, but also for amateur and recrea­tional sports.

The equipment of the sports areas underlines the distinctly harmonious effect of the Gissi sports hall.

In front of the hall, we have also installed a Liga­Grass Pro arti­fi­cial turf pitch, which is suitable for multi-func­tional use. The Liga­Grass Pro fila­ment with its trian­gular cross-section ensures even greater fibre stabi­lity and gives the turf more volume and struc­ture. As a crimped Polytan arti­fi­cial turf system, the Liga­Grass Pro also features BiCo­lour colou­ring.

Gissi’s new multi-purpose hall, which was offi­ci­ally opened on 14 September 2020, is intended to be a place for sporting acti­vi­ties, but also to serve as a meeting place and space for cultural, educa­tional and leisure acti­vi­ties that promote inte­gra­tion and social cohe­sion in the commu­nity.