Restoring the derelict lower part Fort St Angelo in Vittoriosa would cost around €15 million, a spokesman for the government's heritage agency calculates.
The figure would include structural stabilisation, restoration and installation of amenities for visitors to the majestic fort whose bad state of repair has been the object of anger for years.
Godwin Vella, Heritage Malta's senior curator of ethnography at the fort, said that although St Angelo has undergone some form of restoration by the Cottonera Rehabilitation Committee and the government, "the present state is far from happy due to several decades of neglect and misuse".
The estimate comes as the restoration of the fort is again at the centre of debate as NGOs, and even the Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando yesterday, called for the money planned to be spent on the extension of the St John's Co-Cathedral museum to be diverted to the restoration of St Angelo and Fort St Elmo, which is perhaps in a worse state.
Astrid Vella, the head of environmental NGO Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) said St Elmo is on its last legs while St Angelo is not far behind. She pointed out that the sum of €14 million allocated to the underground extension planned at St John's is the fourth largest single sum of allocated funds in the 2007-2013 list of Structural and Cohesion Fund projects, out of a total of 42.
Mr Vella says the heritage agency will be seeking financial assistance in the second round of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) calls scheduled for 2010. But the situation may be more pressing than that.
He said the major worry about the building is securing the site against vandalism particularly the pillaging of floodlights and the ongoing poorly supervised infrastructural works.
The silver lining is that except for the main entrance area which is heavily eroded and awaiting proper reinstatement following a direct hit during World War II, structurally the fort is in a fair state of preservation.
Still, the FAA insists that the St John's project, to which it has objected on the basis that the intervention would be too invasive, should be reduced and the excess funds diverted to the restoration of the forts.
Accommodating the co-cathedral's collections in existing buildings would be far more sustainable than excavating a four-storey-deep quarry which would cripple central Valletta for years. This would also free up much of the €14 million allocated to it, which could then go towards the restoration of St Elmo and St Angelo, proffered FAA.
"This is not free EU funding to be frittered away. The restoration of the fortresses could provide added attractions to draw tourists to Malta, such as a museum of military history or an arts centre providing studios and shops for local artists."