The derelict White Rocks complex in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq is set to be revived into a full-blown sports and leisure village through "one of the largest foreign direct investments" the country has ever seen - €200 million - by a UK consortium.
At zero cost to the government for the construction, operation and maintenance of the facilities, the White Rocks Sports & Leisure Village is expected to generate a minimum of 800 full-time jobs within five years from the issue of a development permit.
It is being fully financed by White Rocks Holding Company Ltd and its financial partner Resolution Property plc, a major UK real estate fund.
Announcing the project at Castille yesterday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told the sports community, which has faced numerous obstacles due to limited resources, they were about to benefit from "one of the largest multi-sports facilities in southern Europe".
Despite the global economic scenario, Malta continued to inspire the confidence of foreign investors, showing it was clearly on the right track, he said.
The project will honour an electoral promise to invest in sports facilities and in keeping with Vision 2015.
The village will incorporate various state-of-the-art facilities to accommodate the increasing demand of national sports organisations as well as a family leisure park, with landscaped and pedestrian areas.
As the first holistic sports tourism destination, it should also develop and exploit the economic potential of the niche market through the hosting of high-level international sports events, training camps and conferences.
Commercial and leisure facilities will include a hotel to support the sports tourism and a multi-ownership complex, including a maximum of 300 residential units.
White Rocks Sports & Leisure Village will also have a flexible outdoor stadium, multi-purpose training pitches, a tennis complex and academy, beach sports facilities and one of Europe's largest BMX outdoor tracks.
An indoor facility will have the capacity of hosting 15 different sports simultaneously and a Sports Science Centre should enhance local and foreign athletes' performance and monitor their rehabilitation.
It will also have a House of Sport, offering office space for the national sports organisations, among other facilities.
Through White Rocks Sports & Leisure Village, the government was aiming to promote a national sport culture and a healthy lifestyle in the sport-oriented family park.
Speaking about the environmental dimension, Dr Gonzi described the complex as a long-standing "wound" in one of Malta's most beautiful coastal areas, which never healed because projects and proposals always remained on paper.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Sports, Clyde Puli believed the project would change the dynamics of Maltese sports through the setting up of the first sports college, geared at the academic and sporting needs of athletes.
White Rocks Holding Company Limited has set up a project team composed of experts in sports design, management and development.
FaulknerBrowns Architects, leading the team, achieved international recognition within the sports and leisure sector over the last 40 years, having designed facilities for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and now working on the world's largest competitive swimming pool in Dubai, said senior partner Neil Taylor.
Talks between the government and the UK consortium kicked off 18 months ago and yesterday marked the start of the process that would require a parliamentary resolution, Casper Gibbons, on behalf of White Rocks Holding Company, said.
Speaking about the finance structure, he said formal negotiations with the government would start now and were estimated to be in the region of €6 million.
The cost of the construction phase - €200 million - would be entirely financed from funds generated outside Malta, he said. The company planned to recoup its capital outlay from the hotel and the leasing of the sports facilities.
Over the years, the prime site had become a prime dump that presented a danger to families who went there for walks and barbeques. Described in the past as a tragedy waiting to happen, the ghost town was littered with syringes and rusting washing machines and infested with rats.