To persevere in error is diabolical

Nobody argues with the fact that the Opera House site is an eyesore that requires attention. All hell has broken loose over the proposed project, not because something needs to be done about the site, but because proposing a modern building to house a new Parliament at the entrance to Valletta is a big mistake.

I can never know the extent of the inconvenience that our MPs suffer within the confines of the Palace, but I think finding an alternative site for our Parliament should not be an important priority in our present circumstances.

If, for the sake of the perceived discomfort of our representatives we were to consider a new site, then surely several other properties within Valletta should be considered before even beginning to dream of utilising the Opera House site for a new Parliament.

The basement alone, of a rebuilt Barry Opera House, could mean at least 1,000 m2 of prime retail space and that alone, at Lm100 per m2 per annum, could bring in sufficient income to fund the Opera House.

Also, some of the garage shops that cover St James Cavalier could be moved to this new alternative prime retail site below the Barry building. Therefore, the argument often put forward pointing to the high cost required to keep available the Opera House is a weak one and does not hold water.

If Government decides it must move Parliament out of the Palace it could examine the feasibility of the Evans Laboratory site (although I believe this is a perfect property for Government to lease out as a beautiful hotel), overlooking the breakwater, a site of great beauty and drama.

It's an enormous waste of resources and potential income to leave this property occupied by an almost defunct laboratory in such a prime site. It's a terrible waste to keep this valuable properly as our identity card centre.

The Casino Maltese is surely another lovely alternative property that is eminently qualified to house a Parliament, should the urge to move Parliament from the Palace become unstoppable.

I don't include Fort St Elmo as an alternative site for a new Parliament because it's too important a building and should be restored to its former glory of magnificent military architecture unsurpassed in the world. And we must find all the resources required to restore the fort. This is a matter of national priority.

Looking after these national treasures is our only hope left. We have constructed so much of our island haphazardly and demolished so many wonderful architectural gems that our island is now in many large chunks, hideous and this is not lost on the many disappointed tourists that visit our islands.

Who would think of turning Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome or the Tower of London into anything other than what they were meant to be historically? We can well afford to preserve them because our future prosperity as a tourist destination depends on this valuable inheritance.

Some serious errors have already been made with this tragic idea of either converting historic buildings for modern use or alternatively allow them to fall into neglect.

The Mediterranean Conference Centre is a case in point. It should be restored as the hospital it once was. It should provide for a museum of surgical instruments and a permanent display of Majolica albarelli for those who would be delighted to see how this incredible 17th century hospital operated.

It should qualify for EU funds and a History of European Medicine section for this museum could be developed and could attract all kinds of spin off and sponsorship from the pharmaceutical industry.

A tiny 18th century hospital of an order of chivalry some distance from Paris attracts tens of thousands of paying tourists from all over the world - so could we.

Fortunately, that other unfortunate idea of having a Majolica museum in the basement of Castille never saw the light of day after hundreds of thousands of pounds were squandered in the exercise.

I remember another harebrained idea to turn Castille into a Parliament a few decades ago. Several properties on St Paul Street were retaken in possession by Government to have the extra space to be able to convert the Auberge de Castille into a Parliament building.

This project too, fortunately never materialised and the splendid Auberge still stands thank God, untouched and well preserved as our Prime Minister's office.

However some good moves have been made in Valletta. The restoration of the Auberge d'Italie for the tourism ministry is one which merits celebration, as this is the prestigious showpiece of our most valuable industry.

Find me one other place in the world where a more beautiful hostel once used to house the knights of the langue of Castille, survives.

There is no other place in the world that is fortunate enough to have such a highly important 17th century hospital. This stunning building was once the Hospital of the Knights of Malta built to serve their hospitallar vocation.

Can you imagine what the Americans, Australians, Italians or French would have done with it? Fortunately, Valletta was a 16th century walled city that did not fit the ambitions of the Maltese property speculator, and although the victim of great neglect, has largely escaped unscathed.

The demolishing mania that has hit Sliema and its environs has not touched it. Our destruction of what was to us merely disposable l9th century Victorian architecture has been abominable and all embracing.

There are more surviving and well-preserved Victorian buildings in Sydney than there are in Malta. And they are all money-spinners. Most of all in Sydney you will find a deep gratitude for this part of their history. The worst thing about Malta is the ingratitude we have shown to our heritage.

However there is no doubt that a very substantial amount of beautiful Valletta houses have been purchased for residential reasons in recent years. Valletta is finally experiencing a renaissance but there is no room for mistakes, when it comes to government intervention.

Fortunately, a great deal of effort has been put into the restoration of several sections of Valletta over the last two decades, but I believe it is absurd to argue that our Barry Opera House should not be rebuilt because it is reminiscent of our colonial past.

By the same token, the magnificent Lutyens buildings in New Delhi or the splendid Arch in Bombay, the gateway to India, have lost their architectural integrity because they were part of India's colonial 19th century past. Such ignorance should be concealed and not flaunted.

Our colonial British past is as much part of our glorious history as is the architecturally golden age of the Knights of St John period in Malta.

We were as much a vassal of the Knights as we were of the British Empire. The long British period is equally part of the history of Valletta, and the Opera House was very much a glittering symbol of its grandeur.

Therefore, the Barry building should be rebuilt and reopened as an Opera House of repute in Europe. It is elementary. Edward Barry was one of the greatest architects of the British Empire, and the Royal Opera House was the most Italianate of buildings balancing perfectly with Palazzo Ferreria across the street.

This same harmony cannot be restored with a modern building. I am almost ready to give up most reluctantly on the idea of a rebuilt operating Opera House, but if you must have a Parliament on Freedom Square then it must be rebuilt externally to the Barry design.

Palazzo Ferreria, the former residence of the Francia family, could be leased out as a beautiful hotel, thereby earning the government more income for our long-term pension requirements.

This is why it should be taken into account when we talk of the difficulty to finance our future pension requirements. With the population predicted to fall by 35,000 by 2050, our future pension requirements can be sustained, improved, as well as financed by a judicious use of our property resources.

Furthermore, the Opera House could derive other valuable revenue from visitors to Malta for opera in the winter months if we were to provide a good product. Why not? We have made such an effort to improve the quality of events like the Jazz Festival and with some well-earned success.

We could well afford the Lm1 million a year or more which would be required to keep the Opera House going and the positive ripple effects of returning this building to Valletta are enormous and wonderful.

The present so called City Gate, that stupor mundi of fascist nostalgia, too, must be removed. It must be rebuilt exactly as it was prior to being destroyed, to make place for the present disgusting edifice. How could the gate to a highly important 16th century walled city become one fit for a container terminal?

Please be warned. Any other modern architectural folly built on the present Royal Opera House site will be looked upon with the same derision and contempt that the present dreadful city gate enjoys.

If we can afford all this money for a new Parliament then surely we can afford to rebuild the Royal Opera House and City Gate. It's just not on to employ substantial resources for a new Parliament and hesitate to spend money on rebuilding the Opera House and the traditional gate to Valletta.

Look at the faithful way Warsaw was rebuilt after the destruction of the Second World War. Look at Dubrovnik (two million tourists visit every year, and it is no match to Valletta). These cities have all been meticulously rebuilt and restored with scarce resources.

A new parliament can wait; greater priorities exist. Should he wish to restore to the exchequer more income to balance the expenditure? Then surely the vast estate worth millions of millions belonging to the government should be better utilised to provide government with a bigger income.

Can you imagine what the Tumas Group or the Bianchi Group or any other Maltese company that has shown the same courage, imagination, and prudence would do, if they owned a fragment of a tenth of Government's vast valuable property inventory? We would have no deficit or we would be regularly downsizing it to more manageable levels.

Why have new taxes when Government's vast inventory of resources is so underutilised? Why should civil servants sit in historical buildings with a room with a valuable view? That view can be leased and resold for dollars. Day in day out. Please look at the success of the paradores in Spain and how government offices in Madrid have been so well reutilised and restored.

Our civil servants can all be housed in any appropriate modern air-conditioned comfortable office space. Why go into the rental business in Brussels when Government is the wealthiest landlord in Malta, and only earns a tiny fragment of what it would earn from its vast estate in Malta and its substantial properties in Valletta?

We must send out a new civilised message. Our vocation must change. Some Valletta buildings can be converted to modern use and Valletta does need a few important hotels.

However, important historical buildings of primary importance should be restored to their primary function so we can all revisit, preserve and enjoy our history, and so we can also have a valuable good product for our tourists.

We also have some very nice people visiting Malta. They pay for it, and our future well being depends on their patronage. We need to repair our soiled reputation as an architectural disaster area of endless mediocrity.

Dr Micallef is former Ambassador of Malta to the United States, former High Commissioner to Canada and former committee member of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti.