Reopening of Turin's Boncompagni primary school after a €9.5 million renovation (October 2026)
The Boncompagni primary school at via Vidua 1, in the San Donato district, reopens in Turin after three years of building work, with a celebration attended by primary- and middle-school pupils. The building, home to 175 pupils, has been completely renovated thanks to a €9.5 million investment of PNRR funds, under Mission 4 — dedicated to making school buildings safer and upgrading them — and the city's "Torino Cambia" ("Turin is changing") programme. The ribbon-cutting is attended by Turin's mayor Stefano Lo Russo, the councillor for education policy Carlotta Salerno, the chair of District 4 Alberto Re, and the head of the Pacinotti school complex, Paola Antonella Bianchetta.
The Boncompagni is one of Turin's oldest schools: the original building was built between 1880 and 1882 to a design by engineer Edoardo Pecco, under the Coppino Law (the 1877 law making primary education compulsory), and was extended in 1924 along via Vidua and via Le Chiuse. Named in 1889 after minister Carlo Boncompagni di Mombello, who called it a model of a "rational and modern" school building, according to some sources it also inspired Edmondo De Amicis for his book "Cuore" ("Heart"). The restoration project, split into three phases and overseen by the City's school-building department, covered, for €6.6 million, seismic retrofitting, the reinforcement of walls, floors and reinforced-concrete beams, the renewal of the roof, the electrical and plumbing systems, and the toilets.