Christian Peregin
Internet group to resist Parliament move
Plans for City Gate submitted in 1988 by world-famous Italian architect Renzo Piano who will be tackling the project once again with fresh designs.
An internet group has been set up on Facebook to protest against government proposals to shift Parliament to the old Opera House.
Controversy has always dogged the fate of the Royal Opera House, bombed in World War II, and while non-governmental organisations and architects welcomed the news that world-famous Italian architect Renzo Piano had accepted to redesign Valletta's entrance, many involved in the arts expressed their disappointment that it would not be transformed into a theatre.
Within hours from the announcement by the Prime Minister early on Monday evening, over 700 people, including a number of theatre heavyweights, joined a Facebook group entitled No to House of Parliament instead of Opera House.
The creator of the group, Adrian Buckle, an artistic director who has produced a number of controversial plays in recent years, said this project summed up the government's attitude towards the arts. He said a new theatre was a much-needed investment and the size of the old Opera House would be ideal.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the site's footprint was too small to rebuild a theatre with today's requirements, adding that Valletta was already saturated with theatres.
Dr Gonzi said the redesigned sites of City Gate and the Opera House would be finished within four years and form part of a larger project to redevelop Valletta from City Gate to Fort St Elmo. This would require Parliament to move from the President's Palace.
Masquerade founder Anthony Bezzina disagreed and said a large theatre was needed to attract big foreign productions. He agreed that the Opera House might not be big enough for this purpose.
He added that any building by Renzo Piano will be a tourist attraction but a Parliament was probably not the best option to attract people.
"At the end of the day it's a horrible site as it is. I'm just glad they're finally doing something about it. I say just go for it, we need a change," Mr Bezzina said. Architect David Pace was sceptical about the project. He said that if the site was too small for a theatre, it was probably also too small to house Parliament, especially if part of it would be used as a cultural centre.
Astrid Vella, from Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, said she would have to see the actual plans before commenting, adding that her organisation would be approaching this with an open mind.
She stressed, however, that the public had a legal right under EU laws to be consulted on such national decisions at every stage, especially when it came to the usage of such a building.
The Labour Party said there should be more consultation, rather than just informing the people of the decisions already taken.
Ray Bondin, former coordinator of the Valletta Rehabilitation Project and former Nationalist MP, said the regeneration of Valletta was essential and required the integrated approach the government was proposing.
"We cannot continue having a bombed-out site in our capital," he argued, adding that the President's Palace was not a good site for Parliament due to lack of space.
"The Opera House site is bigger and if developed properly will also integrate some cultural activity," Dr Bondin said.
He added that Malta should not continue being the only EU country without an Opera House but the old site was not big enough for today's requirements.
SACES, the association representing architecture students, believed these projects will fully regenerate Valletta and bring back the lost pride in the island's capital. The organisation was pleased that Renzo Piano will be designing the buildings that "will now also place Malta on the international map of architecture".
The Federated Association of Travel & Tourism Agents (Fatta) welcomed the government's decision, saying the relocation of Parliament will enable the Grandmaster's Palace to be showcased more effectively to visitors.
Din l-Art Ħelwa said having a Parliament instead of the Opera House was not ideal but welcomed that part of the building would be used as exhibition space. Executive president Martin Galea said that if built in a contemporary style he hoped the proposed structure would be sensitive to the old while allowing the new.
"It is time to decide and move forward. There will be a debate and differing opinions but we have waited 60 years too long for a decision."
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22 Comments
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Adrian Buckle
Dec 5th 2008, 09:50
@ Martinelli
You're funny. St James Cavalier Theatre seats 150 and is the most popular theatre in Malta. It puts on the best productions on the island consistently. The least used theatre is the largest one, MCC. It is practically unfit for theatre because of its size. Then again, you wouldn't know what actually goes on in Malta. What we need is another theatre, like St James, but a bit larger. Then the place can also be developed in an Arts Academy to train local artists in different disciplines.
Obviously, you know nothing about theatre or you wouldn't be putting down that argument of putting all artists in what theatres we got.
Erin Stewart Tanti
Dec 5th 2008, 00:42
@ Mr L Bonnici...
why do you assume thespians are an elitist select bunch of a specified social class... get real mate!!! i am a thespian, and yes i attend theatre frequently... what i aim at in protesting is to promote art to those who as yet are oblivious to it... maltese are fevered with politics.
If it is anything we are saturated iwth it is politics!!!!
J Martinelli
Dec 5th 2008, 00:33
@ Adrian Buckle
I have a few choice words for your comment but I am afraid the moderator would have a fit.
You obviously do not follow other articles otherwise you would not have brought my residence as a justification for your lame argument.
Replacing the ROH with another theatre or as you prefer to call it "cultural centre" would be wasted space since if you put all the 'artsy and cultural people and actors and whatnot together, you will find enough spaces for them to perform. Besides your argument about the space being used in the summer for open air performances, suggests that the place be leveled and nothing else built. You obviously are not an architect as much as I am not, but simple imagination should tell you that the building would end up being less than half of what the open space you talk about and here, I am talking outside dimensions. Once you build walls the inside space would even be smaller rendering the utility as a performance centre grossly inadequate.
So before you tell me that I cannot possibly know what goes on in Malta, better make some sensible calculations yourself.
Erin Stewart Tanti
Dec 5th 2008, 00:09
I am absolutley dumbfounded at how baised this article is...
see for yourselves if you may be as open minded to do so how mr. buckle's opinion is misinterpreted and shot down time and time again by no less than six opposing comments all agreeing with the project. This paints those who are against such projects as the... the poll on this same site may show that we are well balanced out.
I would also like to underline that it we also welcome MR. Piano but not to build a Parliament! Why choose a national heritage site taht could be converted into something all so much better? You might as well situate the new Parliament on Hagar Qim!!!
Adrian Buckle
Dec 4th 2008, 13:01
It is almost amusing to find oneself targetted with ridicule just because I believe in the arts and the potential of investing in it.
I am also accused of maltese gemgem. Since when did voicing one's feeling equate to maltese gemgem? All I am saying is that the Opera House should be developed as an extension of St james Cavalier Centre for Creativity to improve investment in the arts. After all, in every EU country, the arts are given attention, investment and development. Because they realise the wealth it can generate. This seems to be lost on the apologists here. I don't oppose Piano taking care of such a project, as is being hinted.
Martinelli dear, when did I say I miss the old Opera House. All I said was that Malta will be robbed of a cultural site if Dr Gonzi's proposals go through. I expect you know that this site is extensively used in the summer as an open air theatre . . . Oops forgot, you live half a world away. You have no idea what happens here.
J Farrugia
Dec 4th 2008, 08:33
a word to these so-called experts in arts etc. The people (some of these gemgem) did not want the Power station in Delimara. There its is and thank God for that! They did not want the airport, there it is and thank our lucky stars for that. They did not want the Pemborke RO but there it is and once again thank God for that. They did not want the Maghtab regeneration, and it is happening, and thank the Nationalist party for that. They did not want the Sewage treatment plant at M'Scala and there it is and thank God for that. The Government should go ahead with its projects. It has a mandate to govern. And it should govern in the best interests of the majority. Leave the minority to lick its wounds but let's get down to real business. If the nationalist Governments kept heeding these jeremiahs NOOOOOS, we would be the new Zimbabwe of the Med.
J Martinelli
Dec 4th 2008, 04:15
@ Adrian Buckle
Unless you are older than 70, you could not possibly remember let alone miss the splendid building called the Royal Opera House.
Even those who insist that the bomb crater should make way for another theatre, have coped well with the absence of the Opera House for sixty-six years and I much suspect that they miss the building (as seen from postcards) rather than its function especially since the Manoel theatre fills the need adequately.
For those who are not terribly interested in politics, may I point out (with tongue in cheek) that having the Parliament Building just inside City Gate, one would be guaranteed that walking some hundred paces down Republic Street, all the hot air would be behind him (or her).
Charles DeMicoli
Dec 4th 2008, 03:38
@Narcy Calamatta: with all due respect, since when is "maltese gemgem" a racist expletive? Come on now, let's not overdo it. ROH is sacred ground?!? What orignal maltese productions saw life there that became classics? In regards Baroso's put down of the US in reference to, quote, "EU's wealth of cultural heritage", I presume he's not refering to the EU's pride and joy, the kitschy thing called "Eurovision".
As far as resurrecting Renzo Piano's plan, is someone twisting gonzipn's arm? Was there a competition for the design of this project? Why weren't all the architectural students and artists asked to submit plans or ideas? Why the monopoly by Renzo Piano?
A Zammit
Dec 4th 2008, 00:37
@ Adrian Buckle.
true, we do not need a new parliament, but we ABSOLUTELY need Parliament OUT of the Palace, asap, and the reconstitution of one of the World's finest Armouries (still one of the finest in spite of all that looting) in its original location within the Palace (where today, our esteemed Parliament stands).
The Opera house was part of our culture? yes. the palace armoury was part of our history some 300 years before that.
A suggestion to Government - dont risk us becoming the laughing stock of the World another time in sending off Piano - remove the teatru site from the project and just build a fake facade for now.... then let us discuss and discuss and discuss, and we'll get by a decision possibly a couple of good years before the new building is bombed again.......
pathetic!....
L. Bonnici
Dec 3rd 2008, 19:29
I'd like to know from those who are supporting the rebuilding of the opera house as it was... how many of them DO attend theatre productions and how frequent? Isn't this time to have something cultural (as is being proposed) which will benefit everyone, from the low class "popolin" to the high class "yuppies"?
Why do we have to make such a fuss about it?! Let's see the plans & then comment!!
lgalea
Dec 3rd 2008, 18:15
Mario Stellini
SPOT ON.
Eric Soames
Dec 3rd 2008, 17:07
I second Ian Waugh's suggestion of a referendum. There are other hot issues which would benefit from this form of direct democracy. Simple unambiguous questions crafted by an independent third party perhaps.
Narcy Calamatta
Dec 3rd 2008, 17:05
I say let us be wise and rebuild the Royal Opera House (1860) site as a theatre. I have dedicated my whole life to the arts and resent anyone calling me the racist expletive 'maltese gemgem'. If anyone disagrees with me and wishes to have a civilised discussion please phone me up and I will oblige.
The ROH site is sacred ground that shaped part of Malta's heritage and identity in the 19th century. We cannot afford to abandon our cultural heritage to join the hamburger society. Only those countries who never had such richness of culture can appreciate what a grave mistake would the burrying of our national theatre be.
Ask the stake holders first. Ask the artists and the parents of the thousands of students studying music and drama. Malta is the only country in the world that does not have a single performing artist living from her/his art.
Arts and culture is the fastest expanding sector of the economy. In Baroso's words, the EU has the edge on the US in cultural industries because its artists have a wealth of cultural heritage to rely on. Who wants us to throw out our heritage with the bathwater?
Adrian Buckle
Dec 3rd 2008, 14:51
No one is opposingRenzo Piano's employment. What we are opposing is the fact that a cultural site is being taken away to be developed as a parliament; something we absolutely do not need.
J Martinelli
Dec 3rd 2008, 14:17
One of the vestiges the Knights left almost three hundred years ago, was the Manoel Theatre. Valletta is a world heritage site and rightly so. Therefore did the Knights miss something then? They built the famous theatre not in a prominent site within the City but tucked its entrance in one of the narrow streets of Valletta.
They had the vision to build their Auberges in more prominent sites and could very well have erected their theatre just behind the City Gate. They did not and what came later and became known as the Opera House has much less historical value than the Manoel. Therefore the reconstruction of the bombed site does not necessarily tie in with rebuilding a theatre at least from the historical aspect.
The Manoel Theatre at times struggles to break even and having a new direct competitor a few blocks away is a sure way of wiping it off the map.
Valletta needs freshening up not with some monstrosity but with careful planning and with the replacement of a bombed out site and drab City Gate with something respectable and in conformity with the city architecture.
Renzo Piano is capable of delivering the goods
v.vella
Dec 3rd 2008, 13:05
Can't we just thank the Lord that, this time, world renowned architect Renzo Piano has not sent Malta packing and leave him to deal with the issue.
Not with the cheque he will be getting (again)for his trouble he wont!!!!!
Joe Grima
Dec 3rd 2008, 12:37
May I echo A J Anastasi? Must we contest any and every proposal that is put foreward in this country? Can't we just thank the Lord that, this time, world renowned architecht Renzo Piano has not sent Malta packing and leve him to deal with the issue. Cant we simply discuss afterwards? Everytime something new is proposed we behave lika a stadium crowd berating the payers for playing the way they do and shouting suggestions at the field as to how they should play the game when, it is obvious that the experts are the players not the paying crowds. Debate is healthy but for goodness sake, Jeremiahs please pipe down.
Mario Stellini
Dec 3rd 2008, 10:56
"Architect David Pace said that if the site was too small for a theatre, it was probably also too small to house Parliament"
In fact there is no discernible difference between parliament and theatre.
A.J. Anastasi
Dec 3rd 2008, 10:40
Why do we have to oppose everything?
It’s incredible in this country; No wonder the Colonials used to call us “Maltese Gemgem”!
After all these years of bickering, it seems that the Government is serious in going ahead with this project. Let us not continue to create spokes in the wheels and let our Government proceed with its plans.
Obviously, there are going to be many people who will not be happy with the decisions taken, including perhaps myself, but this is life and you cannot please everybody!
I admit, I am no expert, and therefore I shall accept any decision taken by the experts. I have complete faith in Renzo Piano and Richard England, who I trust are world famous in their fields.
Many are suggesting that our parliament should not be sited at the old opera house, maybe, but I am certain that the experts will come to a favourable decision and if they deem fit that this site is not suitable, they may perhaps chose the “Main Guard Building” in St. George’s Square as the new Houses of Parliament!
Who knows?
AJA.
../..
Vincent Debono
Dec 3rd 2008, 10:07
Here is a list of UNPOPULAR suggestions - one of them costs little money hence it will be unpopular with the ones who need to sign the 'deal'.
OPERA SITE: A memorial to the futilty, pain, destruction and ugliness of war. Artistic installations all around the inside of the theatre. To be used as in this Christmas and Notte Bianca events etc as an outdoor theatre. The other advantage (for the man in the street - ie taxpagatus melitensis) of this solution is that no construction paraphernalia will be around. Cheap, no contracts - so unlikely to be accepted.
PARLIAMENT: Fort St Elmo. Need to be restored anyway, there is parking, independent office space for all deputies and is within Valletta. If a small Office of the President is retained in the Palace, the rest will become a fantastic Tourism centre piece.
J Farrugia
Dec 3rd 2008, 10:02
all these so called 'experts' nausiate me. They want another theatre when the theatres we have in valletta are ALL running at a loss. Absurd. Let the government work. Or else let the site remain as it is: a monument not to the brave people of malta, but to the stupidity of the maltese gemgem people. Let it remain a hole in recognition of our ignorance. We do not deserve any better.
Ian Waugh
Dec 3rd 2008, 09:55
One thing is for sure. Why not put this directly to the people by having … (wait for it!) … a referendum.
This issue should be handed back to the Maltese who should be allowed to vote in a referendum much the same as other issues are handled in fellow EU States.
I am seriously alarmed at the PM's remark on the story in The Times regarding the Facebook Group where he states “Valletta was already saturated with theatres”. Saturated? Really? How?
Serious debate in the current political climate (bearing in mind the recent electoral results ) could be quite a risk for some ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ politicians. But what we talking about here is something that will remain longer in the minds of the Maltese than transient Parliamentary members.
Politics is an eight lettered word so attached to Malta’s way of life. To have the HQ of this in such a prominent position is bizarre.
Valletta seemingly closes down after 7.00pm. Bringing the Opera House alive again as a place of culture, theatrical entertainment and Maltese creativity would rejuvenate this magnificent capital city.
As for the “saturation” of theatres in Valletta … where does this come from exactly?