Fort St Elmo: Restoration and rehabilitation

The 3/11 Anti-Aircraft Regiment Association recently paid a courtesy call on the President of Malta. Representatives of the Association lamented the state of abandon of most of Fort St Elmo. They also submitted ideas for its rehabilitation. The President observed that when he had the portfolio of the Interior he had been instrumental in the establishment of the Police Academy in the upper part of the fort.

Over one half of Upper Elmo had been cleared of demolition rubble and rehabilitated. However he agreed with the association as to the rest of the fort, especially Lower St Elmo with the War Museum and the Pinto Stores. President de Marco made a plea for a complete restoration and rehabilitation of the fort that has such a glorious history.

It is because of the illustrious past of Fort St Elmo that its present disgraceful state calls for an early remedy. It is such a shame that it had been made a dump for demolished masonry, wooden apertures and iron works. Lower St Elmo has been turned into a Carnival float factory. Worse, it has become a place for criminal and indecent acts and dog kennels - with all the shabbiness and filth such activities entail.

St Mary Magdalene church

The lower part of the city built by gentlemen for gentlemen cries out loud for attention and immediate action. One could start with the surroundings of the fort. The church of St Mary Magdalene built by the Knights for the Women's Hospital has long been due for preservation, restoration and rehabilitation. It is good to learn that the Chapel of Bones, destroyed by wartime air raids, is finally scheduled for rebuilding. Better late than never.

The exterior confines of Fort St Elmo also deserve attention. Not so much for restoration, although some parts deserve to be restored. The granaries just outside the main gate should be made out of bounds to traffic and should not be used to let off fireworks. Stone slabs stained by leaking engine oil should either be cleaned or, if this is impossible, be replaced. There are quite a few missing. Others are chipped or cracked by the weight of heavy trucks. Complete restoration is important since the granaries had been built as part of the fort's infrastructure. The storage of grain was most important in those times of possible invasion and for a steady supply of this essential commodity during winter.

The fort must be 'cleared' of use alien to it. Dumping of 'put-away' or useless files of government departments in rooms all over St Elmo must cease. The same applies to the dumping of material from houses demolished to make way for modern housing. There are also car wrecks and engines in the ditch and behind the coast gun positions.

The removal of dumps of debris and other litter takes long, so it must be taken in hand straight away. Otherwise it is idle talk to plan restoration. Even more so the gigantic task of rehabilitation. There has been talk of removing the construction of carnival floats and grotesque masks from the long stores in Lower St Elmo. These were intended for quite other purposes by Grand Master Pinto. It is high time that the carnival village, promised so many years ago, becomes a reality. There is hardly any need to mention the unacceptable current uses and doings in these stores.

An idea I mooted a long time ago is that Fort St Elmo be used in a manner similar to that of the Tower of London. I had submitted this proposal officially when I was involved in the Police Academy. I did repeat this suggestion here years ago. Now that the plight of Fort St Elmo has reached the ears of the President and also became the subject of a Times editorial, it may be worth considering it in all seriousness.

The plan entailed, to begin with, the cleaning, restoration and refurbishment of the various gun positions together with the rooms for the gunners. Then follows a very tall order: replacing the guns used in the fort during the past 400-odd years of its existence as a defensive bulwark. Cannons similar to those in use during the 16th to 18th centuries may be obtained from European countries. Guns like those in use during the British period may be found in Commonwealth countries. Where this is impossible, reproductions could be made leaving out the firing mechanism.

A son et lumiere could be devised and mounted during the spring and summer months.

Pensioners of the AFM and Police could be used as guides. Again, this would be following the example of the Beefeaters of the Tower of London. Their costumes could be replicas of the periods relative to the fort's place in Maltese history. Incidentally, why is the In Guardia contingent wearing uniforms of just one particular period of the Order's 268-year rule?

International Police Academy

As for Lower St Elmo, I had recommended at two consecutive Interpol Biannual Conferences to use it as an International Police Academy. The idea caught on and a special ad hoc working committee was intended to come to Malta to carry out a feasibility study. However, such a potential boon to Malta's international reputation fizzled out because of a change of Ministers of the Interior. Maybe the present minister and the present Police Commissioner would consider taking up this suggestion at the next Interpol Conference of Police Academies.