The Infrastructure Ministry this afternoon launched a multi-facet project to rehabitate Fort St Elmo and open it for public events and cruise line activities.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said the upper part of Fort St Elmo, which is at street level, is to be adapted and opened for public manifestations of a cultural and artistic nature.

A walkway will also be created linking the area of the Mediterranean Conference Centre right down to Pinto Stores. This walkway, the minister said, will be part of the government’s vision for a promenade from Sliema and round the base of Fort St Elmo.

He said the lower part of Fort St Elmo will be converted into a cruise passenger terminal. The project will see the building of one or possibly two quays for fair weather berthing by cruise liners alongside the Marsamxett side of Fort St Elmo. Breakwaters may be built to protect Marsamxett, ensuring that the quays may also be used in rough weather, but the issue is still under discussion because of the costs involved.

In another phase of the project, the Valletta ring road covering part of the granaries outside the fort will be removed. The minister said the construction of this road, in the 1970s, had also disrupted the continuity of the Valletta bastions and closed access to the ditch. Under the new plans, the ring road will be re-routed.

The minister said the project will also involve the rebuilding of the historic lighthouse at the top of Fort St Elmo. The lighthouse had been removed by the British forces before the Second World War.

A new hotel will be built in place of Evans Laboratories just outside Fort St Elmo. The new hotel’s design will be more in keeping with the surroundings. The hotel’s mission will be to cater for activities related to cruise liners and to the nearby conference centre. Excavation of the area will also be made, particularly on the adjoining site of the Chapel of Bones, which was demolished in the war.

The minister said this project is part of the regeneration of Valletta, from City Gate right down to Fort St Elmo.

Pictures above show the current state of Fort St Elmo and artists’ impressions of the project works.

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