Tuesday, 19th August 2008

Sliema townhouses on death row

Gordon Caruana Dingli, Sliema

On August 27, the Mepa DCC board will meet to decide the fate of two adjoining beautiful Sliema townhouses, numbers 9 and 10, Dingli Street. (PA 2114/07, PA 03265/07).

These are two of the few remaining grand Sliema town houses, still in a preserved streetscape of similar houses in Sliema's widest road. They are close to the area known as "the three trees" close to the heart of Sliema. One of the houses has elaborate carvings and corbelling with an elaborate stone balcony at the site of number 63 bus stop where Dingli Street widens at the junction with Princess Poutiatine Street. It is also the house seen straight ahead when one walks from Victoria Junction onto Dingli Street.

The permit application is to develop flats and garages, retaining the façade. In practice this means that the ground floor façade will probably be mostly destroyed by installing a door to the garage, and the first floor retained but buried under several stories of a new building. Facadism is only a token towards conservation to allow development.

Mepa's own DPA board has recommended that permission is refused.

This application will be a litmus test for the new Mepa. Will Mepa continue to support rampant development or will it finally start to protect the heritage entrusted to its care?

Comments

Philip Paris (on 21/8/08)

Like in most big cities, why do they not incorporate the old buildings facades with new construction?
As far as I am concerned Malta has been distroyed by developers and government.
I do not plan to retire in Malta now. I will go to Spain.

Rory O'Neill (on 19/8/08)

As a visitor to your lovely Island every year I beg someone to step in and avoid your heritage being eroded. Every year My wife & I return we see beautiful a Maltese Building replaced by a Concrete Monstrosity that is only a shell with no one living in it. These shells have remained empty for years after.One has to ask the question "what is the advantage to the developer?"
Surely it would be better for people to be living in Traditional Houses than a whole street of empty "shells"
We intend to retire to your lovely Island but have no desire to live in concrete block!
Get your Act together MEPA and stop this vandalism!!

apgrech (on 19/8/08)

I'm not from Sliema but for anyone to destroy such beautiful houses must be either out of his mind or plain irresponsible.

Is MEPA managed by people or by robots?

James Gerada (on 19/8/08)

Please MEPA preserve these historic houses.

Saviour Brincat (on 19/8/08)

FAA has already submitted its objections to this development (there were features and letters in the past). The architecture of these buildings, as many others in Sliema are unique to the entire Maltese Islands, both internally and externally. Facadism is a mockery, an insult to the great architects of the Art Nouveau movement in Malta (in this case Gustav Vincenti and probably Andrea Vassallo) We have lost so much already. Facadism cannot always be used as an excuse to destroy heritage such as this. THIS CANNOT GO ON!

vincent a galea (on 19/8/08)

What completely foxes me is why old houses are still being bought, knocked down and turned into apartments! The glut of such developments on the market is there for all to see. The mind boggles! Of course, this is good news for buyers - more on the market, easier bargaining power thus obtaining cheaper prices! But please spare these lovely old houses!
Changing Malta's character like this, is going to be worse than when divorce is introduced!!!

DVella (on 19/8/08)

Hmm . . . does FAA know about this permit application . . . it has, in the past, raised quite a stink about far less significant ones . . . Hello Astrid . . . you guys on shutdown or something??

Amanda Mallia (on 19/8/08)

Gordon Caruana dingli - How wrong you are in your assumption about this case being "a litmus test for the new MEPA"! If only things were so simple.

A corner block of 6 houses on Milner/Howard Streets were supposedly on the original UCA plans when an application was lodged for a permit to demolish them, retaining the facade. Such permit was refused, and even "retaining the facade" was not accepted by MEPA.

Suddenly the applicant lodges a new application for a permit, and hey presto! The houses are removed from the UCA, and the houses are now about to be demolished ... and without the facade even being retained.

See this:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080724/local/asds

Unfortunately, rotten apples just remain what they are ... rotten apples.

mary micallef (on 19/8/08)

I fully agree that these houses should be preserved, however one has to also understand how expensive maintenance of these houses is. When one is contributing to preserving our heritage, it might be a good idea to have maintenance schemes to help owners.

Phil Humphries (on 19/8/08)

Such a decision would not have to be made if Mepa had stood up to the developers who started the greed-fuelled rush to ugligy Malta. It's too late to save Malta from its high-rise, concrete fate, but the very least that Mepa can do to atone for its shameful past is to preserve what little remains of Malta's architectural history and beauty.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Wednesday, December 3, 2008. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Sliema townhouses on death row

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