Revival in sight for Floriana's Ospizio

The new lease of life enjoyed by La Vittoria Bastion at the Ospizio in Floriana during the Malta Arts Festival last month should not be temporary - the Culture Ministry has plans to turn it into an arts village and laboratory. The venue, which many had never heard of, let alone visited, was opened to the public for the first time ever during the festival.

Although no timeframes have been established as to when the project will materialise, the idea is for the site, which has been in disuse, to be rehabilitated not just to house exhibitions but to be turned into a place where art can be created, students can learn from it and tourists can visit to watch them in action.

The former Lorenzo Gafa' School, right next to the Ospizio, forms part of the project, a ministry spokesman said.

Dating back to the time of the knights of the Order of St John, and modified by the British, it used to be a school of restoration and then became an opportunity centre for students, but was not used that frequently, he said.

The project, which has been in the pipeline for years, is awaiting EU funding and an application has just been submitted, while detailed plans have still to hit the drawing board, the spokesman said.

But that is just one plan that involves the Ospizio because it is also being seen as part of the city garden initiative of the Tourism Ministry, which is under way: tours will take in the gardens at the Upper Barrakka to Hastings to the Lascaris War Rooms, the Argotti and the Mall in Floriana, ending at the Ospizio.