Cola Filotesio Museum gets funding

(ANSA) - New York, June 12 - The World Monument Fund and American Express have pledged to support the central Italian town of Amatrice, which was devastated by a deadly earthquake in 2016.
    WMF and American Express in particular have announced that one million euros will fund eight international conservation projects including restoration work at the Civic Museum Cola Filotesio in Amatrice.
    The projects will involve conservation work on sites at risk due to natural disasters, climate chance and urbanization that were included last October in a biannual list drafted by the WMF.
    Every two years the World Monuments Watch, founded with support from American Express, issues a call to action for cultural sites worldwide. "The devastation of Amatrice is difficult to translate into words", said Joshua David, the president and CEO of WMF.
    David noted how almost two years after the earthquake "much of the town's future still needs to be determined".
    The museum Cola Filotesio and its bell tower represent one of the historic sites at the center of reconstruction, he said.
    Over the past 20 years, American Express has donated over 18 million dollars to contribute to the conservation of 166 sites listed by the WMF in 71 countries.
    The financial institution has partnered with other organizations, contributing with an additional 60 million dollars to hundreds of conservation projects.
    Amatrice was selected last October together with 24 other sites among 170 locations nominated worldwide.
    Other sites that will be receiving funding include the "Potager du Roi" in Versailles and the archaeological site in Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico.
    Timothy McClimon, president of the American Express Foundation, said the sites selected symbolize "national and local identities" whose conservation can have a role in attracting visitors, breathing new life into communities.
    The World Monument Fund has previously selected 114 sites in need of conservation work in Italy, including in Pitigliano, Sorano, Manciano and Civita di Bagnoregio, the fortress of Fenestrelle in Turin, the concentration camp in Fossoli, the Arch of Janus and Domus Aurea in Rome.