Will fountain’s move sink the Tritons?

News that a Valletta landmark, the Tritons Fountain outside City Gate, is to be moved provoked mixed reactions yesterday with some organisations welcoming the idea but several people rubbishing the plan.

The area around what is now a grubby bus terminus will receive a €4 million facelift over the next few months to become a tree-lined, pedestrian-only zone, without Vincent Apap’s iconic fountain.

The fountain will be restored and moved a few metres away, next door to the MCP car park in the garden of the Air Force monument.

A further €500,000 will be spent to change the look of the façade of the government flats in Freedom Square opposite the site of the new Parliament. New wooden balconies and the original railings will replace the present stone balconies and balustrades.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said the €4.5 million being spent to upgrade the area outside City Gate was over and above the €80 million being spent on the Renzo Piano project.

The idea presented yesterday is to create an open space, paved with hard stone complementing the new city entrance. A car park with space for 55 vehicles would also be created to one side.

The severe reaction online was not long in coming. “One man’s vision has been imposed on the nation,” wrote a Sean Grima, barely a few minutes after the story appeared online, presumably referring to Renzo Piano, the world-famous Italian architect responsible for revamping City Gate and building the new Parliament building and an open-air theatre on the Old Opera House ruins.

What followed built on these lines, reminiscent of the criticism of the open-air theatre. There were some who welcomed the idea but the feedback online was mostly negative.

Not so, however, from Din l-Art Ħelwa President Simone Mizzi. “I think the move, which is part of the Valletta embellishment project, is a positive one as it would better expose the entrance to Valletta and not cause a visual impairment. Regenerating the outside, not just the inside of Valletta, thus letting the bastions reign supreme, would be a big plus for Valletta,” she said.

Removing the fountain from where it stands might also expose the original counterguards of Valletta, which lie below the area, at the level of the moat, she said.

The change would also be good for the fountain which would no longer be exposed to further carbon dioxide. “It is in need of restoration after years of exposure to environmental hazards. When moved to its new allocated place it will not suffer further damage.” Ceramist Gabriel Caruana also welcomed the idea, even though in principle he does not believe monuments should be moved.

“The project (rebuilding City Gate) is a large and important one and once the entrance to Valletta is changing and moving then it should move too,” he said. Shifting the fountain towards the Phoenicia Hotel would create an open space in front of the entrance and it would not clash with other monuments.

The concept of an open space also appealed to Valletta mayor Alexei Dingli. He said it would actually elevate the fountain rather than demote it since it would not be used as a roundabout anymore. He actually went one step further, suggesting that a statue of Grand Master Jean de Valette should be considered in its stead.

Among the detractors online was painter and columnist Kenneth Zammit Tabona, who argued it was disrespectful to move such an iconic monument that had been designed by a modern Maltese artist to be erected in front of City Gate.

“It is unacceptable that instead of being respected as one of the most impressive Maltese and large bronze works of art, it’s being shifted to the side. It is absolute rubbish that it is being moved to clear the area of any visual impairment, as you can see the bastions from anywhere! The bastions are a defensive wall, not a work of art,” he said.

Mr Zammit Tabona, who had also voiced his criticism of the open-air design for the new theatre, stressed the role the monument plays in the collective memory.

“It has been there for years throughout all our childhood. It is bad enough that the Opera House ruins have not been replaced. What else are they going to remove? Shifting it would be like moving the lions in Trafalgar Square. Maltese people are proud of this monument, and the terrible state it is in is a shame on its own.”

He too, however, made a suggestion, arguing that the fountain could replace the War Memorial down the road, an obelisk, which could be shifted to where the Triton Fountain is being moved – in this way the fountain would maintain its dignity in front of Valletta.

The project announced yesterday complements the new €3.3 million bus terminus being built at St James Ditch and which is expected to be finished by July 3, when the new public transport operator takes over the bus service.

Dr Gatt said access to Valletta from the present terminus would be closed for two to three weeks. Shuttle minivans will provide transport around to Castille.

The City Gate project itself reaches another milestone next week when the demolition of the actual gate gets underway.