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ANDREW MEDICHIN/AP/Press Association Images

Colosseum to be restored using private donation

A luxury shoemaker will fund the restoration project, which will see works taking place at the ancient ruin for more than two years.

THE COLOSSEUM IN Italy is to be restored using a private donation, with work due to begin this December.

The controversial plan will take two-and-a-half years to complete, however authorities say the popular monument will remain open to tourists during this time, News24 reports.

Italy’s economic problems mean the country’s government is relying more and more on private funding for such endeavours, although concerns have been raised that sponsors might take commercial advantage of such associations.

The popularity of the ruin, which is almost 2,000 years old, has increased sharply in the past number of years – with annual footfall rising from one million to six million over the past decade, the BBC reports.

Added to the sheer number of people visiting the monument are the effects of pollution and vibrations; in the past few days it has also been confirmed that the building is tilting.

Luxury shoemaker Tod’s will fund the restoration, which Rome’s superintendent for archaeological  heritage Mariarosaria Barbera said would make the Colosseum 25 per cent more accessible for visitors in the future.

The works will see the building cleaned, cracks repaired, and the temporary metal arches currently at ground level removed. A new visitor centre will also be built outside the ruin.

Following the works, the building will also be returned to its original colour of white ochre.

Read: Ryanair put in bid for sponsorship rights of… the Colosseum

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    Mute Joan Featherstone
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    Jun 17th 2014, 1:37 PM

    Congrats, well done! A subject near to my heart.

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    Mute James Mcguinness
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    Jun 17th 2014, 12:21 PM

    Make sure you tell him no testing on children now!

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    Mute Rupert McPupkin
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    Jun 17th 2014, 1:56 PM

    James, I think your comment went over the heads of most people – I know where you’re coming from though.

    Wellcome or Wellcome Trust, now merged into GlaxoSmithKline, is the pharmaceutical company that mistakenly administered CATTLE vaccines to 80 babies and children in “mother and baby” homes in Ireland.

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    Mute denis shields
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    Jun 17th 2014, 2:21 PM

    Wellcome Trust is not the Wellcome Foundation. Sir Henry Wellcome used a whole lot of money he got from the Wellcome Foundation (which was the pharmaceutical company now merged with GSK) to set up an independent medical charity called the Wellcome Trust which is not controlled by pharmaceutical companies. They fund various kinds of medical research. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellcome_Trust
    for more details.

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    Mute Rupert McPupkin
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    Jun 17th 2014, 2:42 PM

    Denis,

    The Trust only “divested itself of any interest in pharmaceuticals” in 1995 so, as far as I’m concerned, Wellcome Trust was indeed linked to Wellcome Foundation during the cattle vaccine “studies” in “mother and baby” homes, all of which were carried out prior to 1995.

    So, I’m sorry – I’m not convinced by your explanation.
    .

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