Vicenzaoro Unveils Expansion Plans

Owners of the facility holding the Vicenzaoro fairs are planning to expand the show grounds, planning to invest €16 Million in the project. The new facilities will include an additional 24,000 sq meters that will host additional exhibition space, meeting rooms and parking facilities.

During a press event, Corrado Facco, managing director of the Vicenzaoro fair, and Andrea Pellizzari, president of Immobiliare Fiera, told reporters that the initial plan is awaiting final approval by local authorities. After that is secured, a bid for architects will be published. The works are expected to start by the end of January 2008.

According to Facco, one important addition will be a watch pavilion. Pellizzari said the first phase of the construction will start where currently stands the Holiday Inn hotel next to the fairgrounds. Next, the structure housing the C and D pavilions, the ‘pyramid’, will be replaced, incorporating the newer structure housing the B1 pavilion.

Of the 24,000 sq meters, 10,000 will be dedicated to exhibition space. Where a parking yard is today, a multi level parking structured will be erected.

Around the new facility, the city of Vicenza is considering supporting infrastructure, including a tram and hotels.

Facco added that the fair management has developed for the first time a business plan for the coming years. “We may change the show format, we will invest not just in the construction, but also in the content,” he said about the self financed plan. Saying he wants the show to represent the democratization of jewelry, Facco told the listeners they want to do something new, not to replicate what was done elsewhere.