Dutch firm offers to restore Rome after riot
A Dutch restoration company has offered to help Rome with repairs after fans of Feyenoord football club wrecked havoc in the capital last week.
Koninklijke Woudenberg offered its services for free in a letter to the Italian embassy in The Hague on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the company told The Local.
"We were really shocked by what happened," she added.
"And so decided on Tuesday that we would make this gesture. We thought the best way to go about it would be through the embassy."
In scenes that embarrassed the Netherlands, the drunken Feyenoord supporters trashed much of Rome’s prime tourist spots, including Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza di Spagna, before they were pushed back by riot police.
The clashes took place last Thursday ahead of a Europa League match against AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium.
In the process, they also damaged one of the city’s most treasured fountains, the Fontana della Barcaccia, at the foot of the Spanish Steps, and which had only recently been unveiled after lengthy restoration work.
The overall cost of the damage to the city has been estimated at €3 million.
Koninklijke Woudenberg is yet to receive a response to the gesture from Rome’s authorities.
"If they accept then of course we would collaborate with local companies," the spokeswoman added.
"We have a long experience of restoration work on all kinds of projects."
Earlier this week we reported about Elisabeth Jane Bertrand, a Dutch woman living in Tuscany who set up an online crowdfunding page, called Scusa Rome (Sorry Rome), to raise money for the repairs.
As of Wednesday morning, the gofundme page had raised €10,332.
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Koninklijke Woudenberg offered its services for free in a letter to the Italian embassy in The Hague on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the company told The Local.
"We were really shocked by what happened," she added.
"And so decided on Tuesday that we would make this gesture. We thought the best way to go about it would be through the embassy."
In scenes that embarrassed the Netherlands, the drunken Feyenoord supporters trashed much of Rome’s prime tourist spots, including Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza di Spagna, before they were pushed back by riot police.
The clashes took place last Thursday ahead of a Europa League match against AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium.
In the process, they also damaged one of the city’s most treasured fountains, the Fontana della Barcaccia, at the foot of the Spanish Steps, and which had only recently been unveiled after lengthy restoration work.
The overall cost of the damage to the city has been estimated at €3 million.
Koninklijke Woudenberg is yet to receive a response to the gesture from Rome’s authorities.
"If they accept then of course we would collaborate with local companies," the spokeswoman added.
"We have a long experience of restoration work on all kinds of projects."
Earlier this week we reported about Elisabeth Jane Bertrand, a Dutch woman living in Tuscany who set up an online crowdfunding page, called Scusa Rome (Sorry Rome), to raise money for the repairs.
As of Wednesday morning, the gofundme page had raised €10,332.
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