Like most older ladies, Maria Dolens is also sensitive to aspects of form and wishes that the environmental context in which she is placed fully corresponds to the requirements of harmony, decorum and safety.

In recent years our Bell has not escaped the inevitable deterioration that the passage of time has caused to the infrastructures of its monumental area, in particular the increasingly evident cracks in the paving, the numerous infiltrations of the amphitheatre, the unsightly stagnation of water produced any time it rains, even slightly, right in the centre of the «Piazzale delle Genti».

Aware of these, albeit tacit, grievances, the Foundation's Board of Directors contacted the relevant representatives of the Autonomous Province of Trento (PAT) to obtain the ad hoc funds necessary to carry out a rather large series of major interventions of maintenance.

Both the current and the previous agreements concluded with the PAT do not, in fact, allow the ordinary annual contribution to be utilized, even in part, to areas not falling within the institutional activity of the Foundation, i.e. the organization of seminars and conferences, the staging of art exhibitions and musical events, the preparation of visits, both incoming in relation to various guests and, outgoing with regard to participation in events in Italy and abroad.

In response to this request, with resolution no. 1967 of 20 October 2023, the Autonomous Province has allocated the substantial sum of 450,000 euros, spread over two years, to finance these interventions. This is a decision of great importance for the present and future of the Foundation, for which I would like, on behalf of the Board of Directors and myself, to express public thanks to the Provincial Council as a whole and, in particular, to the President of the Autonomous Province, Maurizio Fugatti.

As is widely known, in 2025 Maria Dolens will celebrate the hundredth year of her life. This is a very significant date which the Foundation intends to adequately honour, also through the preparation of a series of structural improvements, which ad hoc financing will make possible. To name but a few, these include the new paving of the «Viale delle Bandiere», the arrangement of the open-air grandstand of the amphitheatre, the repositioning of the porphyry walkways, and to end the necessary overhaul of the engine of the historic Bell.

Consequently, in 2024 the institutional activities planned at Colle di Miravalle will have to take into account the limitations and conditions unavoidably linked to future works, which are destined, with our sincere regret, to also influence the increasingly numerous requests for "hospitality".

Taking this into account, with the belief that the information may also be of interest to our external counterparts, over the next 12 months the Rovereto Peace Bell Foundation intends to pursue the three basic priorities listed below:

• complete the contemplated major renovation by December 2024 once a precise timeline has been established;
• ensure, subject to exceptional and limited-time needs, the regular opening of the monumental area, possibly arranging alternative access routes for visitors;
• in relation to institutional activity, favour events that can take place in the Auditorium, not affected by the renovation work, verifying for each individual case the feasibility of those, normally with greater public participation, usually held in the open area outdoors which is involved in the afore-mentioned interventions.

As already highlighted, this is certainly not an ideal situation, since in the short term it does not allow for the full use of a location that is increasingly known and appreciated even beyond the territory of our region. From a broader perspective that looks beyond the fundamental deadline of 2025, the above work will translate, once completed, into very positive repercussions, in terms of decorum and safety, for future events and demonstrations that will take place there, whether independently promoted by the Foundation or organized by our partners. And, in this way, Maria Dolens will have the opportunity to celebrate her hundredth birthday, as she strongly hoped for, in a setting absolutely worthy of her long and glorious history as well as the very high civil, moral and religious reference that, according to unanimous opinion, she represents today.

Reggente Marco Marsilli, Foundation President