OPENCIVTECHThe Fontanelle nursery: works finished, service still to start
On 27 March 2026 the construction site of Fontanelle's new nursery (asilo nido) was finished. On 26 June the Municipality of Atri approved the final statement; on 5 November it closed the accounts: 687,281.41 euros of PNRR funds spent out of 720,000. Yet in September, families and the opposition were still asking for an opening date, and in the documents we have read there is none. Here is what the records say, step by step, and what remains unanswered.
In brief
- The project: "New construction of a nursery in the hamlet of Fontanelle, with demolition and reconstruction of a building not already used as a nursery". PNRR Mission 4, Component 1, Investment 1.1. CUP B35E24000160006. Funding: 720,000 euros.
- The works: awarded on 25 October 2024, handed over on 29 January 2025, completed on 27 March 2026. Final statement and Certificate of Regular Execution approved on 26 June 2026.
- The accounts: 499,385.45 euros of works plus VAT; final PNRR spending 687,281.41 euros (95.45% of the funding); savings 32,718.59 euros.
- The service: it does not yet appear to be running. In September the mayor said it will start with a management tender, which the Municipality aims to award as early as next year. Opening date, places activated and management notice: none appear in the documents consulted.
Before and after: a school for ages 3-6, a nursery for ages 0-3
In Fontanelle, in via Giuseppe Verdi, stood the infant school, for children aged 3-6. Local press reported it on the award of the works (Ekuonews, 22 November 2024) and Prospettiva Atri did the same (9 September 2026). The PNRR project was not a refurbishment: it provided for demolishing the building and building a new one, for a different service, the nursery for ages 0-3. The planned places are 30: the figure is reported by the local press and confirmed by OpenCivTech's owner; it does not appear in determination 1123.
In the meantime the infant school has moved. Mayor Piergiorgio Ferretti confirmed on 7 September that it stays in the former primary-school premises: two classrooms of 48 and 29 square metres for about 25 children, and a 156 m² atrium. He explained that the nursery premises, funded for ages 0-3, cannot host it. According to the mayor the nursery will widen Fontanelle's offer from 0 to 10 years, also for neighbouring municipalities (press summary, not a verbatim quote).
The story, record by record
From the Ministry's notice to the last record, about two and a half years go by.
| Date | Record | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| 15/05/2024 | Public notice for new projects (PNRR M4C1I1.1) | Cited in determination 1123 |
| 05/09/2024 | Funding agreement between the Municipality and the Ministry of Education and Merit | Cited in determination 1123 |
| 10/10/2024 | Executive Committee resolution 78 | Approves the technical and economic feasibility project, 720,000 euros |
| 14/10/2024 | Executive Committee resolution 82 | Approves the executive project: 514,714.68 euros of works (of which 24,963.08 safety), 51,471.47 VAT, 153,813.85 at the contracting authority's disposal |
| 15/10/2024 | Determination to contract 1613 | Negotiated procedure without notice (art. 50, para. 1, lett. c, Legislative Decree 36/2023), lowest price, 5 operators invited |
| 25/10/2024 | Determination 1678 | Award: 499,385.45 euros plus 10% VAT |
| December 2024 | Works contract, rep. 1673 | Determination 1123 reads "18/18/2024", an impossible date: the L.190 register and Dossier Zero give 18/12/2024 |
| 29/01/2025 | Handover of the works | Cited in determination 1123 |
| 07/07/2025 | Executive Committee resolution 116 | Non-substantial contract modification (art. 120, para. 7), with no change to the contract amount |
| 03/11/2025 | Determination 1332 | First progress statement: 174,262.63 euros plus VAT |
| 27/02/2026 | Determination 202 | Second progress statement: 127,393.50 euros plus VAT |
| 27/03/2026 | Certificate of completion of the works | Cited in determination 1123 |
| 26/06/2026 | Determination 614 | Final statement and Certificate of Regular Execution: final payment certificate 97,852.23 euros plus 10% VAT |
| 14/09/2026 | Act 2026/0001475 (register) | Sub-commitment of 1,313.37 euros to E-Distribuzione for the nursery's electricity connection |
| 18/09/2026 and 13/10/2026 | Determinations 920 and 1023 | Payment of an invoice for technical services of 27,219.57 euros (invoice no. 12 of 03/09/2026) |
| 05/11/2026 | Determination 1123 | Approval of the final economic framework |
Two dates, side by side, tell the story of the works: handover on 29 January 2025, completion on 27 March 2026. That is fourteen months. The first progress statement was approved nine months after handover, on 3 November 2025.
The accounts: where the 720,000 euros went
The Municipality published the final economic framework with determination 1123. Of 720,000 euros, 549,324.00 are works (VAT included) and 170,676.00 are sums at the authority's disposal: technical costs, incentives, connections, and 32,718.59 euros of savings.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Works, measured and lump-sum (base) | 489,751.60 € |
| Discount offered (3.13%) | −15,329.23 € |
| Safety costs (not subject to discount) | 24,963.08 € |
| Total works | 499,385.45 € |
| VAT on works (10%) | 49,938.55 € |
| Total works including VAT | 549,324.00 € |
| Incentives for technical functions (art. 45) | 6,176.59 € |
| Design and works supervision (fee 68,270.00 € plus contributions and VAT) | 86,620.98 € |
| Safety coordination, surveys and cadastral work | 27,807.72 € |
| Geological technical services (with contributions and VAT) | 5,002.38 € |
| Geological and geognostic surveys (with VAT) | 6,005.22 € |
| Structural testing (with contributions) | 4,334.15 € |
| Total technical-expenses contribution (B.2) | 129,770.45 € |
| Other items (ANAC fee, fire-brigade office fees, utility connections) | 2,010.37 € |
| Savings | 32,718.59 € |
| Total sums at the contracting authority's disposal | 170,676.00 € |
| Total project | 720,000.00 € |
| of which from PNRR funds | 687,281.41 € |
We redid the sums: 549,324.00 + 170,676.00 = 720,000.00 euros; 720,000.00 − 32,718.59 = 687,281.41 euros. They add up.
Three items match data already public. Design and supervision (68,270.00 € plus 4% contributions = 71,000.80 €), safety coordination (21,707.82 € plus 5% = 22,793.21 €) and connections (1,313.37 €) are the same figures that appear in the L.190 data of the transparency portal and in act 2026/0001475.
Two calculations of our own, to be verified.
- The three approved works amounts (174,262.63 + 127,393.50 + 97,852.23 = 399,508.36 euros) are exactly 80% of the contract. The missing 20%, 99,877.09 euros, is the figure the L.190 register gives as "sums paid so far". It is consistent with a 20% advance, but no record we have read says so.
- The 2025 PIAO showed 680,353.37 euros committed; final spending is 687,281.41 euros. The difference, 6,928.04 euros, is not explained in the documents consulted.
Who carried out the works. Determination 1123 does not name the contractor. The L.190 register gives ACOTEC Costruzioni Tecnologiche S.r.l. as the awardee. Any other members of a grouping can be established only with the bid, the tender minutes and the contract, which we do not have.
September 2026: families, mayor, opposition
In early September the mothers of Fontanelle spoke to the press. What follows is reported by local newspapers and attributed to those who said it: this dossier has not verified it.
The mayor (7 and 8 September, Ekuonews and Cityrumors Abruzzo): the infant school, about 500 square metres for about 40 children across infant and primary, stays where it is; the problem, he says, is now the heat, and it concerns many schools, not only Fontanelle. The nursery will start with a management tender, which the Municipality aims to award as early as next year; the Municipality will provide the premises and the furnishings not covered by the funding. The construction site area has been cleared and new play equipment is coming shortly. He says he is available for direct discussion with parents.
Prospettiva Atri, a minority group (9 September): asks for a firm date for the start of the service, noting that the works are finished and that furnishings and the award of management are missing. It recalls a 110,000-euro application for innovative teaching furnishings, submitted in February 2026, which in its words did not obtain funding, and links the delays to the deficit and the financial recovery plan. Councillor Alessandro Graziosi is a member of that group and also the source of another OpenCivTech dossier (file 10): we say so that readers know where the criticism comes from.
The furnishings application. According to our reading of the published ranking (to be re-checked against the original document), the row for Atri (CUP B34D26003100007, 110,000 euros, submitted on 17 February 2026 as a single applicant) shows no admission status. From the documents consulted it is not clear whether it was excluded, left unfunded or admitted later, nor whether it concerns only Fontanelle or also the municipal nursery in via D'Annunzio (CUP B38H22000530006). The nursery's economic framework has no line for furnishings.
What does not appear in the documents consulted
"Does not appear" means we did not find it in the documents and pages we were able to read, not that it does not exist.
- When the nursery opens and how many places will actually be activated.
- The management notice or tender, and its date.
- The building's habitability certificate and the installation certifications. Determination 1123 does not mention them; it cites the Certificate of Regular Execution and the structural test only as cost items.
- The furnishings: who pays and when.
- The date the electricity was connected. The sub-commitment for the connection is dated 14 September 2026.
- The 2026-2027 municipal nursery ranking: whether it includes places in Fontanelle. We could not read the document.
- The reasons for the contract modification of July 2025.
- The identity and role of the contracting companies.
- Which item of the framework the 27,219.57-euro technical-services invoice paid between September and October 2026 corresponds to.
A typo in the determination
Determination 1123 gives the contract signing "on 18/18/2024": a date that does not exist. The L.190 register and Dossier Zero give 18 December 2024. It is probably a typo, to be corrected or confirmed by the Municipality.
What can be asked
Eight questions to put to the Municipality in writing, by access to records or civic access:
- When will the nursery open, with how many places, and by what procedure will they be assigned?
- When will the management notice be published and on what terms?
- When and at what cost will the furnishings be supplied?
- Has a habitability certificate been issued? Are the installation certifications available?
- What is the date the electricity supply was activated?
- Why was the 7 July 2025 modification approved and what did it change?
- What is the correct date of the works contract and who are the contracting companies?
- Which item of the economic framework does the technical-services invoice paid in 2026 refer to?
Right of reply
Replies from the Municipality and the people mentioned will be published in full on this page, with the date we received them.
Sources
- Determination 1123 of 05/11/2026, Public Works Area (Atri Municipality notice board): final economic framework, chronology of the records cited.
- Determination 1023 of 13/10/2026 and act 2026/0001475 of 14/09/2026 (OpenCivTech records register, from the notice board).
- L.190/2012 transparency data (CIG B371E50465, B338BBFB06, B33894C59D) and OpenCivTech's Dossier Zero.
- Ekuonews, 22 November 2024: award of the works; 7 and 8 September 2026: the mayor's statements on the infant school and the nursery.
- Cityrumors Abruzzo, 7, 8 and 9 September 2026: the mayor's reply and Prospettiva Atri's statement.
- Abruzzo Speciale, 9 September 2026: Prospettiva Atri's statement.
- Ekuonews, 23 July 2026: list of PNRR works requested by councillor Gabriella Italiani (item "Construction of the Fontanelle nursery", 720,000 euros).
- Atri Municipality 2025 PIAO (committed 680,353.37 euros, paid 252 euros, testing due by 30/06/2026); OpenPNRR data of 26/02/2026 (329,942.10 euros, 45.83%) and the furnishings application ranking: figures cited by OpenCivTech's owner, not re-read against the originals at the time of publication.