Hotel conversion will turn water polo pitch into lido

Transforming what is claimed to be Mattia Preti’s house along Valletta’s San Salvatore bastions in Marsamxett Road into a hotel will include the conversion of the water polo pitch into a lido, according to the planning authority application.

However, Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli said this does not mean the pitch will not be accessible to the public.

“The lido will be available for use by the water polo club as well as the public. The plans show it is only a very small part that will be reserved for the patrons of the hotel,” Dr Dingli said.

The issue surfaced earlier this week, when environmental group Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said people who swam there with their families would lose a sizeable chunk of the foreshore which by right belonged to the public.

At the time, the mayor denied the council would even consider taking over the water polo pitch as a beach concession for the hotel. It had deteriorated because of bad management, and the council’s idea was to pass it on to the private sector, he said.

FAA yesterday reaffirmed its position on the pitch, showing the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s application form as proof of its claim.

It pointed out that since hotels are graded according to the facilities they offer, such as parking, pools, restaurants, conferences and shopping, the site in question would always be graded as a three-star hotel because of its size.

Speaking to The Times about the hotel, the mayor had said the capital city required hotels of a certain standard, because currently the best on offer were three-star.

The hotel, which seeks to integrate a contemporary building with an abandoned 16th-century period house, made the news this week due to a dispute over the address of the famous 17th century painter Mattia Preti.

While the local council claimed the house was once owned by Preti, FAA said Preti’s house was actually at 10, St Patrick Street, Valletta.

Historian Judge Giovanni Bonello clarified that the painter owned five houses during his 60-year stay on the island and the precise location of only one of these was known. However, it is not one of the two mentioned in the dispute but is located on St Barbara Bastions overlooking Grand Harbour.