Much-delayed restoration work on Rome's Colosseum could start in February, provided that legal and bureaucratic wrangling holding up the project is resolved by then, Italy's outgoing culture minister, Lorenzo Ornaghi, said Friday.
The 1st century structure, where Roman emperors once staged gladiatorial battles and public executions, is in urgent need of repair, as fragments continue to fall off its structure, endangering the 5 million people who visit the monument every year.
"We are ready to start. But we have to wait for the signal, which unfortunately has not come," Ornaghi said in an interview with the Rome-based daily Il Messaggero.
The project is deadlocked despite being fully funded since June 2011, when Italian luxury goods magnate Diego Della Valle offered a 25-million-euro (33.5-million-dollar) sponsorship. "I admire Della Valle's patience and civic spirit," the minister said.
The Colosseum, Italy's most visited site, is expected to remain open throughout the works, which are projected to last about five years.
The start was scheduled for December, but it was held up because a court is due to rule on an appeal by a construction firm which lost out on a reconstruction tender. A verdict is due on January 31, but may then be appealed.
Ornaghi's ministry is also due to decide "within a couple of weeks" on the size of the area around the Colosseum due to be cordoned off for safety reasons - a subject of heated debate between Rome's municipality and archeological authorities.
"After that we start, courts permitting," the minister said.
Ornaghi is a member of Prime Minister Mario Monti's technocratic government, which resigned in December and is due to make way for another administration after February 24-25 elections.