“Silvio Zavatti” Municipal Library and “Enrico Cecchetti” Theatre
Since 1998, the “Silvio Zavatti” Municipal Library and the “Enrico Cecchetti” Theatre have been housed in the former Casa del Balilla, a building of significant historical interest, designed by the genial Adalberto Libera (1903-1963), one of the greatest exponents of the Italian Movement for Rational Architecture. The building project, drafted in 1931, was realised over a two-year period between 1934 and 1935, and inaugurated on 10 November 1935. The Casa del Balilla was a place where young future fascists in Civitanova could spend their afternoons in various intellectual and gymnastic pursuits. The building was composed of a single body on a rectangular plan, divided into three parts: those to north and south were almost identical, with full-height interiors designed for a gymnasium and a cinema/theatre; the central part was divided in two along the main axis and designed for offices and meeting rooms. On the eastern side exterior was a long balcony with stairs at the end, which overlooked an area with sports facilities and, beyond this, the expanse of the sea. After the war, the building, which was undamaged by the fighting, was used for continuously changing purposes, becoming the command centre for Polish liberation troops in 1944, then the civil engineering headquarters, a venue for the footwear exhibition and, once more, a gymnasium and cinema hall. The structure was restored and transformed in the 1990s, particularly the interior, to house the “Enrico Cecchetti” Cinema/Theatre in the south wing and the “Silvio Zavatti” Municipal Library in the north wing.