Costigliole d'Asti - The Elementary Schools and the memorial for victims of all wars

The Elementary Schools Building

At the beginning of 1934 the Municipality of Costigliole proposed the purchase of the land necessary for the construction of a new building to be used for primary schools in the country. The land was bordered by the Piazza Medici del Vascello, where was located the Church of Saint Rocco with attached oratory, seat of the company of Saint Rocco, built in 1897 and then demolished in 1932. The Prefect of Alexandria, by special decree, on March 2nd, 1934 authorized the purchase of the necessary land from lady Ester Balduzzi Medici del Vascello. On May 1, 1934, the City awarded the contract for the construction of the school building to Cesare Mindino, owner of the homonymous company based in Costigliole, Region Faiteria. The direction of works was entrusted to the engineer Gaetano Rusconi from Ivrea, while the assistant for the municipality was the building surveyor Guido Bazzano.

The construction of the school building ended on July 18th, 1936 and testing was performed on August 24th, 1936. It is curious to know that for the construction of the school hundreds of cubic meters of ground had to be removed, and a place for it was then found at the cemetery of the chief city. To speed up the transport of this ground a small railway was built on which little wagons were transferred. With this ground the access road to the cemetery was built, which then became a tree-lined avenue today called Teacher Albina Baldi Street.

An integral part of the building was the gym, which was used not only by pupils, but also by athletes of local sports clubs. Today the building, in addition to the elementary schools now become primary school, also hosts the kindergarten and both are part of the comprehensive institute of Costigliole.

The memorial for victims of all wars

The monument stands on Piazza Medici del Vascello, in front of the school building that forms the background, and was designed by the sculptor Prof. Angelo Balzardi of the Albertina Academy in Turin. The installation of the artifact was entrusted to the company Garbarino Kt. Massimo from Costigliole and the elements that compose it are: the monolithic block in granite, the figure of the bronze Jack 5 meters high, which represents a soldier who stands sentry and the flagpoles.

The monument had a total cost of 9,387,209 liras and was realized with the contribution of the Pro Loco organization, the municipal administration and with the participation of 15% of the resident population.

The inauguration took place on June 6th, 1965, with a majestic and participated event with the Mayor of Costigliole and the President of the Executive Committee Kt. Riccardo Bellone, with Civil Authorities, armed forces, Fighting Associations, Mutilated, Decorated, Fighters of all wars and planes, all in the presence of the RAI TV cameras.