Hamrun parish announces €170,000 restoration project

A €170,000 church restoration project was this afternoon announced by the parish priest of St Cajetan in Ħamrun, Fr Henry Balzan.

The project had been initiated by former parish priest Fr Paul Fenech.

Fr Balzan said he was continuing the work in consultation with and under the guidance of the Department of History of Art at the University of Malta.

The programme includes work on the exterior of the church, particularly on the dome cupola and its stonework, and on the ceiling and dome paintings the work of Emvin Cremona.

Works undertaken between 2001 and 2008, cost €75,000, paid for by parishioners’ contributions and aided by voluntary work led by vice-parish priest, Fr Joe Gatt.

The main work has, however, still to be done.

The parish authorities have sought the advice of art historical experts from the History of Art Department at the University of Malta, and are collaborating with them while taking the initiative to collect the necessary funds for an expert restoration intervention.

This has been entrusted to ReCoop Company Ltd.

The project is being held under the patronage of President Emeritus Professor Guido De Marco, a parishioner of this church.

He made an official plea for companies, organisations, clubs and associations, to help collect the funds needed for the upcoming phase, estimated to cost over €170,000.

In the meantime, the parish will be issuing a scheme enabling parishioners and individuals to contribute towards the funding of the project, starting from €20.

Any contribution can be deposited to account 023060064050 at HSBC or 40019064741 at Bank of Valletta