A cultural centre at Fort St Elmo

The government is finally waking up to the disastrous state of lower Fort St Elmo. This is hardly news. Over the years, The Times must have carried a multitude of articles and letters on the subject. I myself have written endless times. However, it has never been so bad as at the moment. The fort has been taken over by breeders of horses (illegal in Valletta) and other animals such as goats and dogs.

May I remind everyone that in 1997 Mepa and the Valletta Rehabilitation Project published a development brief written by architect Konrad Thake that clearly outlined what needed to be done. Furthermore, a lot of other action has been taken, such as a 3D model and documentation (financed by the EU). At the time there was a lot of interest from the private sector but nothing could happen before the fort was cleared of all occupants. The situation is the same today, only worse. No re-use for the fort can be found unless there is a solution to re-house the carnival organisers elsewhere. In 1992 VRP had prepared detailed plans for a carnival village in the Crown and Horn Works area in Floriana: the area was eventually taken over by the Park and Ride project. Over the years I had made several other alternative proposals as to where the carnival organisers could be housed. The carnival organisers deserve decent working space and at the same time they could become an attraction all year round by exhibiting some of their work.

Fort St Elmo has an incredible land area of Valletta. It is disgraceful that it has been abandoned. When Jesmond Mugliett was minister, an attempt was made to control who goes in but it was never fully enforced. Now, again, eight years later, they are thinking of controlling who goes in. The fort has enormous potential. It deserves to be given full attention by someone who is practical but at the same time sensitive to the tremendous heritage of the place. It should not be given over completely to the private sector but should be run as a public-private partnership.

Today I am fully convinced that the fort should be turned into a cultural centre, focusing on Malta and also on the Mediterranean. (In 1998 there was an international group willing to invest in a Mediterranean Cultural Centre). The lower area has an excellent outdoor theatre. There is so much space that can be taken over by NGOs working in the art and cultural sector. There can be artists living in. There is space for all sorts of programmes especially in the art scene such as exhibition space (so badly needed in Malta), and a contemporary art museum with both indoor and outdoor space. There could be other museum spaces, especially in the upper part, particularly a museum of the Great Siege or of the building of fortifications as Stephen Spiteri has been requesting for years. There is a multitude of other ideas that I have for the fort.

This project can be sustainable. As discussed in the development brief it can be sustainable through the use of spaces close by. We had plans for high quality apartments instead of the Evans Building, for instance.

The area should be mainly cultural and artistic and not an extension of the Waterfront as has been recently suggested.

The government should do everything within its power to remove illegal occupiers and must open a discussion as to the future use of the fort. We must have the courage to act as in any case at least four years need to pass before this project can be completed. We have an obligation to take care of this heritage. Though we have heard it so many times before, perhaps finally, with Jason Azzopardi having the courage to remove illegal occupiers elsewhere, even Fort St Elmo can regain its glory.