The Planning Authority Board is tomorrow due to consider an application by the governemnt for permits to carry out restoration on the external ramp leading to the main gate of Fort St Angelo, the main gate façade and the area behind it.
Other works are also to be carried out on the ramp leading to the lower level of the fort and the sally port leading to De Guirial battery.
Environmental NGOs over the past months had called for urgent works to stop the rapid deterioration of the historic fort.
However their calls for restoration of the fort were by no means new. As far back as July, 1929, the British Naval Authorities wrote to the Antiquities Committee regarding the need to 'reface' the gateway of Fort St Angelo. At the time, the stonework of the original gate was already so eroded that most of the masonry needed to be replaced.
The fort suffered further damage during the war, when it was hit by aerial bombing.
Several structures were built within its walls by the British forces and later, by the Maltese government when the fort was planned to become a hotel. Many of them have since been demolished, but the fort has since suffered from years of disuse.
The fort was closed off after dangerous cracks appeared in the stonework in July last year. Heritage Malta, which is responsible for the fort, then filed an urgent application for emergency repairs.
The government announced a €1.5 million fund for emergency repairs in the last Budget speech and another €22 million were allocated for the fort's restoration a week later, during the Budget debate on the allocations for the ministry responsible for culture.
Government spokesmen also said that the EU funds would be used to restore and re-open the whole fort, transforming it into a cultural heritage attraction with heritage trails, historical re-enactments and a three-dimensional presentation for visitors.
In a call for expressions of interest, the government invited organisations to submit detailed plans, which would include quotes, designs and studies.
But restoring the fort will not be an easy task. The €1.5 million are just a stopgap measure to restore parts of the main gate and the bottom part ramp, part of which developed deep fissures. The situation is so bad in this area that architects have installed small sheets of glass across the cracks in the stonework, warning those within the fort to evacuate if these break.
Also, the roof of the tunnel beneath the road that leads to the fort collapsed, leaving a gaping hole several metres deep. The stonework has been worn away by the weather and is heavily damaged in some parts by the sea spray. Parts of the fortified walls are being badly damaged by tree roots that have become deeply embedded in the bastions.