The history of the headquarters of Fondazione Teatro Due is one hundred years long, and during these years the building has had several functions.
March 15, 1902: Construction of the building as a Public Bath
In 1894 the Mayor Mr. Mariotti presented the town plan for the city of Parma, which included, on the tenth point, the construction of Public Baths in venue to be. Putting aside the initial proposal to establish them within the Ducale Park, in order to avoid damaging the park and its fish-pond, once the right wall bank of the Parma river was completed, the choice fell on Viale Basetti, current home of Fondazione Teatro Due. The estimated cost was £ 100,000 and included reinforced concrete, ornaments and various structures. The construction of the entire building, however, found many difficulties: there was a deficit due to the cost of drinking water. Therefore, the project to build 8 Northon wells to draw out water from the underground was approved.
1904
The first swimming pool is finally inaugurated.
1935
The building becomes the seat of the National After-work Club (OND), organized in different areas: in addition to the pool, there is a theater, a ballroom, a gym and various recreation rooms.
1936
Inside of the building is also inaugurated the Cinema OND, the same that will become the Cinema ENAL after the War.
During the war, the areas are converted into dining areas and gyms for officers. After 1945, the building is struggling to find its stable function, and it alternates periods of abandon and periods of occupation, by several associations. In the following years the Partisan Police and later the Municipal Assistance Agency (ECA) are based in Viale Basetti, with the soup kitchen placed in the gym, the current Spazio Bignardi. Subsequently, Town Police occupy most of the areas that are the current ticket office and the administration office, and the building also hosts the headquarters of ARCI (Italian Cultural and Recreational Association) of Parma.
1970s
The Compagnia del Collettivo (that will further be the Compagnia del Teatro Stabile di Parma) occupies the upper rooms, the gym and the cinema, expanding throughout the years in the whole building and restoring step by step the different areas.
1980
Agreement with the municipality of Parma, which entrusted the Compagnia del Collettivo to the management of the building.
1985
The municipality of Parma approves the investment for the restoration of the spaces of the theatre: a mobile structure, with four spaces of different configuration, in which it is possible to operate simultaneously, thus expanding the possibilities for work and artistic verification as well as of the attendance of the audience. A theatre that is always open, a place for entertainment but also for training and meeting.
At the end of the Eighties the swimming pool was demolished and replaced by the current parking area next to the theatre.
2002
A project of renovation and expansion of the Teatro Due starts. The architectural design has been developed from the idea of convergence between new and existing facilities, to configure a place based on the articulation and the plurality of different spaces, a structure suitable for a lab-oriented dimension, a place of experimentation and contamination between disciplines of expression in any way related to the theatrical experience.
2011
The restoration of the rear of the structure is completed, where an amphitheater with 700 seats has been created, officially titled Piazza William Shakespeare, to which a bar-restaurant and a guesthouse are annexed. Located between via Rondani and borgo Salnitrara, exactly above the Goito car park, the amphitheater has an autonomous structure but connected to the Teatro Due, composed, in addition to the cavea and the stage (30 x 14 mt.), by the two Shakespeare Spaces, mainly used as rehearsal rooms (14 x 11 meters), dressing rooms and other technical spaces.