The potential of Fort St Elmo

The Times of July 1 carried two items which reflect very much what I have been saying for years about Fort St Elmo. One item reminded us of the scheduling by Mepa of the fountain and exedra at the fort and the other item spoke about the presentation of Shakespeare's Macbeth in front of this fountain.

Mepa is doing well to explain the recent scheduling of various buildings and elements in Valletta after a long-term exercise to which I personally gave a lot of voluntary attention, though of course this is nowhere mentioned by Mepa. Scheduling gives these sites the necessary extra attention they deserve. Unfortunately the Mepa advert in The Times says nothing about the state of conservation of the fountain in question and the whole fort when in fact they should openly state so both for the sake of correct information but also from the level of correct documentation.

The fact that MADC are having a cultural activity there highlights a point I have often made in the past. Fort St Elmo, as stated in the Development Brief prepared by Mepa and Valletta Rehabilitation Committee in 1996, should be primarily used for cultural activities and placing of cultural and museum related attractions.

The site in question is a perfect theatre, especially in summer. The long discussed National Arts or Creativity Centre should be based in Fort St Elmo and space offered to various NGOs and cultural related organisations. There is more than enough space to establish activity that can also generate revenue to subsidise this use. The Opera House site should be our Parliament, as I stated in my maiden speech in Parliament in 1987.

Fort St Elmo is crying out for recognition and reuse. There is no alternative but to use it to enhance the site of Valletta by making another important area available for all kinds of cultural and recreational facilities for both Maltese and tourists. We should be able to make it one of our prime sites in Valletta. It is highly possible.