A Valuable Brownfield Site by the Sea Awaiting Regeneration/ The Case of the Lipari Pumice Quarries

The history of pumice and obsidian extraction has ancient roots and identity for the island of Lipari, representing an activity` of great value, to be protected and promoted. The largest of the Aeolian islands has had a long industrial history based on the extraction of pumice stone, dating from the Neolithic, present in very pure quality thanks to the island’s volcanism. Pumice has always characterised the island, attracting applications for monopoly concessions from various companies in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1958, the company Pumex S.p.A. was founded, which in just a few years man- aged to incorporate and purchase almost all the pumice lots. In 2000, the Aeolian volcanic archipelago became a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, repre- senting an important model for the study of volcanology worldwide. Pumex was declared bankrupt and is still under the control of the bankruptcy court. Thus, in addition to the quarries, Pumex’s buildings have also been abandoned, risking the disappearance of all physical evidence of the pumice quarry and the indus- trial architecture functional to them that, long before tourism, made the island of Lipari prosperous. In 2021, the Sicilian Region had announced the acquisition of the area for the establishment of a geo-mineral park and the creation of a Museum of Pumice Stone Processing. But the area is still waiting. Attention must be kept alive and a regeneration project initiated so that the island’s ancient heritage of pumice and obsidian mining is not dispersed but properly protected and enhanced.