Back in 2019, Inter Milan and AC Milan announced that they would be leaving San Siro and that a new stadium known as the “the cathedral” would be built in its place. The news was met with sadness across the globe, especially when it was revealed that the famous old stadium would be torn down to make room for the new stadium.
Fast forward to summer 2023 and it was revealed that the stadium, which is officially called the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, would no longer be demolished. Milan's Regional Commission for the Cultural Heritage of Lombardy determined that the stadium holds too much “cultural significance” to be torn down.
Saving San Siro from demolition isn't enough for Milan Mayor, Giuseppe Sala, as he now wants to ensure that the stadium isn't simply left empty to rot. Instead, he has been working on San Siro redevelopment plan in a bid to convince the powers that be at Inter and AC Milan to stay at the Guiseppe Meazza.
San Siro redevelopment plans
Sala has been working hard on the stadium and released his plans to the public this week after they were formally proposed to Milanese superintendent, Emanuela Carpani. The project will see a new-look San Siro with a capacity of 75,000 – just 800 less than the current version.
The stadium would also feature commercial spaces, restaurants, bars, suites and offices and it would help to bring AC Milan and Inter Milan forward without them having to leave their spiritual homes. Perhaps the important factor of the redevelopment is that both clubs would be able to continue playing matches at the stadium while the renovations take place.
The project will cost around €300m and the new designs have been created by architectural studio, Arco Asociati. Speaking about the proposal, Sala said:
“The most important thing is that the work can be done without closing the stadium and this is a decisive question. understand the clubs who say that in the event of redevelopment, they would have to move to a small stadium for two years, causing inconvenience to the fans and therefore it would be a problem.
“It is clear that as mayor of Milan and the metropolitan city, I would do nothing to oppose the hypothesis of new stadiums in municipalities other than Milan. This doesn’t mean we can’t argue with the fact that we have to do everything we can to keep the teams in Milan.”
What do AC Milan and Inter Milan make of the proposal?
While neither club have come out and made a comment on the new proposals, reports in Italy have stated that they have both rejected the mayor's San Siro redevelopment plans. Both clubs were left unimpressed with the plans are still set on their own stadium projects after it was ruled San Siro couldn't be demolished to make way for “the cathedral”
Both clubs are planning on building stadiums outside of Milan with AC Milan planning on moving to San Donato and Inter planning on moving to the Rozzano region. Both clubs were reportedly unhappy about not being consulted on the plans before they were presented and believe that the redevelopment would cost too much.