Bagnoli cambia volto per l’America’s Cup, la bonifica è realtà: il viaggio de Il Mattino

On December 31, 2025, that platform in the middle of the Gulf of Bagnoli, known as the "sea-filled" platform, was unchanged and clearly demonstrated its 63 years of existence. Construction began in 1963. Today, April 29, 2026, it no longer exists; it has changed completely, having been transformed into a terrace overlooking the sea. It was the beating heart of all the reclamation efforts and the operational base for the America's Cup sailing teams. No longer filled, it has been reclaimed using the "capping" technique, insulating mats capable of containing any spills of waste material from the former ironworks. The platforms for the maintenance hangars of the Formula One racing cars have already been installed. And it's astonishing to look out from the Bagnoli North Pier—a strip of asphalt that juts 800 meters into the Gulf of Bagnoli—and from that perspective, see how a place closed to the public for 40 years has come back to life in just a few months. And soon—as early as this summer when the America's Cup teams arrive—Neapolitans and tourists alike will be able to enjoy the city. And right next to the North Pier, the base of the holders of the world's most prestigious sailing trophy, Team New Zealand, is being built. The bottom line is that starting this summer, anyone who looks out from the Pier will have eyes and noses inside the champions' workshop. The city's largest seafront terrace is the crown jewel of the redevelopment of the former ironworks. In less than 100 days, what hasn't been done since 1990, the year Italsider's last blast furnace was shut down, has been accomplished. Work began on January 8th and is nearing completion today. Davide Pelenghi, manager of Greenthesis—a consortium with other companies—which is carrying out the work, gets straight to the point, namely, giving back a piece of their city to the Neapolitans: "The landfill," Pelenghi explains, "has been secured with capping, that is, the laying of sheets to prevent contaminants from impacting visitors. And here we expect an average of 30,000 visitors per day; at least that's what happened, according to statistics from previous editions in other cities." Before delving into the state of the overall cleanup of the Bagnoli-Coroglio Site of National Interest, it's worth taking stock of the America's Cup work, which anticipated the offshore cleanup by at least a couple of years. In addition to the platforms for the hangars, the reef protecting the construction sites on the landfill and the boats is clearly visible. "How will the boats be positioned at sea? There are hangars where the boats must then be repositioned,” the manager explains. “Here on the waterfront, 50-meter-high cranes will be positioned to lower the boats into the sea and then bring them back into the hangars.” The North Pier is strategic for the future of Bagnoli because it will provide access to the “America’s Cup Village” and, once the competition is over, it will be one of the gateways to the new Bagnoli. “We will build a connecting ramp,” Pelenghi concludes, “that will take visitors from the pier into the site. At the end of the ramp, there will be shuttles that will take people to the Auditorium, because that’s where the America’s Cup area is planned to be accessed.” By Luigi Roano. With the collaboration of Achille Strombetta. Coordination by Marco Piscitelli.