St Elmo alive!

On Monday The Times carried a notice of special interest to this column. The Valletta Rehabilitation Project invited individuals and non-governmental organisations to present proposals for the future use of Fort St Elmo.

It also announced that employees of the Works Division recently removed 20 tons of rubbish, abandoned cars and other material from the historic ort.

Along the years this column submitted many proposals for bringing Fort St Elmo back to lfe.

Piazza d'Armi. As soon as the Police Academy was established in 1988 this area was completely cleaned, restored and refurbished. So were all the 'barrack rooms' round the square. These were turned into classrooms, canteen, games rooms and washrooms. Others were furnished into scene of crime rooms for hands-on learning. Still others were used as offices and stores.

The original St Anne chapel of the Great Siege fame was restored and is functioning as a church. In it there is present the Blessed Sacrament by special permission of the Archbishop, Mgr Mercieca.

This parade ground is used for the performance of the historical enactments In Guardia and Allarmé. These two events are very popular and should be continued

Reproduction of guns. The main idea is to restore Fort St Elmo as a fortification, and not simply as a relic. This could be done by a search in Commonwealth countries for old guns from the coastal armament to anti-aircraft guns as used up to World War II. Should the search fail to provide the desired result, then one would have to resort to reproductions made to the exact size and exterior specifications This would give the idea of the type of armament used at the fort throughout the ages.

The elevators used in bringing up ammunition from the underground magazines could be brought back to working order for exhibition purposes.

Pensioners as guides. This suggestion is copied from the Tower of London where pensioners wearing a special uniform act as guides. In our case pensioners from the armed force and the police could act as guides and sales persons for souvenir outlets.

Souvenir shops. There are a number of small rooms inside and outside the Piazza d'Armi that could be used as outlets for the sale of souvenirs. There should be two types of souvenirs sold from two different shops - souvenirs dealing exclusively with St Elmo and its history and photos, guidebooks, etc, would deal with Malta in general. The idea for these two types is so that visitors may buy from both shops.

Snack bars and restaurant. A few snack bars and a restaurant could be opened. These would surely be well patronised by visitors.

Pageants and military tattoos. A pageant outlining the chequered history coud be organized and programmed for special periods of the year. However it is proposed to the period before the coming of the Order of St John, the British period and the present since independence. There could also be a short season of military tattoos and drama festivals running concurrently. For the latter there could be erected a tent theatre since it will only be a seasonal activity.

Son et lumière. A lively activity is proposed for the evening so that Fort St Elmo remains alive during the evening and early night. The proposed activity is a son et lumière on a parallel to the day pageant. Only in the case of the evening event the narration is 'illustrated' by lights and sound. This is a novel idea for a night entertainment show in Malta.

Historical re-enactments. The current historical re-enactment of In Guardia with costumes and uniforms of a particular period of the Order of St John's rule should be retained at the present order of events. The same applies to Allarmé, the enactment of the insurrection of the Maltese against the short French rule - 1798-1800.

Harbour Fire Control. In conjunction with the 'restoration' of St Elmo as a fortification throughout the ages, the defence unit known as HFC - Harbour Fire Control - during the Second World War should be restored and refurbished with the necessary equipment as that used to repulse the Italian E Boat attack on Grand Harbour.

Lower Elmo

International Police Academy. Lower Elmo is not in fact a part of the fort; it consists of a number of large rooms on three tiers and an extensive 'courtyard'. The building served as stores built during the long reign of the Portuguese Grand Master Manuel Pinto. As a matter of fact their proper name is Pinto Stores at St Elmo. These werre also the subject of proposals for their resurgence from the awful mess they are at present. The impression of being anywhere near a prison in Turkey must be obliterated for all time

I was Malta's delegate at the eighth Symposium of Heads of Police Colleges in December 1988 at St Cloud near Paris, where I mooted the idea of establishing an International Police Academy at Lower St Elmo. This motion was put on the agenda for the next symposium that was held in Lyon 1n December 1990. A working committee was appointed to carry out a feasibility study.

Unfortunately the official side in Malta somehow lost interest and the whole idea fell through. The idea may still hold good, perhaps as a European International Police Academy.