Afterwork Activities
The building of afterwork activities is the emblem of the enlightened formula of administration and good relationship between the Ferrania top management and the workers, promoted by the Director of Human Resources Ing. Luigi Schiatti during his 40 years of working period in the company.
From 1920 until the handover to the 3M, he remained in command in his role through every political season, two world wars, the monarchy, fascism, the republic and reconstruction.
The rationalist building of the fascist era was inaugurated in 1936 about halfway down the straight stretch “kilometer Ferrania”, that separates the railway station and the industrial site.
The building housed a large flexible room with 300 seats that, in a short time and when necessary, could be transformed into a cinema, theatre and dance hall (i.e. New Year’s eve); a peculiarity is the presence of the “orchestra pit” (golfo mistico), the space reserved for the orchestra that plays live, located between stage and the audience, a rarity for small theatres on the territory.
In its years of activity, it was the main gathering place for workers and their families in the village of Ferrania; many shows were performed, from the plays and operettas of the 30s, the singers and the famous groups in the 50s and 60s, the amateur theatre performances as well, and “cinema evenings” when were shown movies in which Ferrania films were often used. Currently, the afterwork activities building, in a state of abandonment and degradation, is under the protection of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage together with the thermal power plant, the old management edifice, the gatehouse and the historical building of S.I.P.E. power house.