Still time to save iconic church in Manikata

I fully support the heartfelt appeals made by Mario Buhagiar and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar that good sense should prevail and that the proposed project for a Christian doctrine premises within the precincts of the Manikata parish church as approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority be withdrawn by the ecclesiastical authorities. What is being proposed (and unfortunately approved) is nothing short of sacrilegious and would irretrievably compromise the architectural integrity of the Manikata church.

As Prof. Buhagiar rightly claims the Manikata church designed by local architect Richard England and constructed between 1962 and 1974, is widely recognised as one of the finest examples of local post-war modern architecture. It had achieved iconic status as it dominated the skyline of the then compact farming hamlet of Manikata. Its architectural fame reaches well beyond our shores as it has been the subject of two architectural monographs written by the architectural critics Charles Knevitt and Chris Abel, besides featuring in a number of high-profile international architectural journals such as Progressive Architecture and Architecture Review.

Over the last years the church has been treated badly. The recent spate of development has considerably diminished the church’s visual prominence within the village’s skyline.

A garden-playing field complex with imposing boundary walls just opposite the church has further diminished its context.

The surrounding gravel parvis overtaken by wild weeds and the artistic sculptural pieces having been allowed to fall in disrepair further accentuate the sense of decay.

What is being proposed is nothing short of barbaric. A whole-scale demolition of almost half the elevated parvis, serving as the sacred temenos, will be undertaken to accommodate a centre for teaching Christian doctrine and a large store. Excavation will be conducted to within a metre or so of the church’s external walls. The omissions during the planning process are worrying as the application was never channelled through the Heritage Advisory Committee and it appears that not even the most basic excavation method statement was requested. The justification for approving the project being that the proposed structures will not intrude into the current massing aside from three prominent factory-like skylights that will rudely protrude into the “new parvis”.

The solution is simple – accommodate the centre for teaching doctrine on a different site, possibly considering reusing the old parish church of St Joseph – which should be sufficiently large for a small community and certainly preferable to hosting children rather than within this ill-advised, semi-bunker.

I sincerely hope that Archbishop Paul Cremona intervenes by seeking advice from the Church’s renowned experts on cultural heritage with a view to withdrawing the approved project. The Superintendent of Cultural Heritage is still in time to save the day by issuing a conservation order to safeguard the conservation of this architectural monument. Architectural conservation is not just about preserving buildings from the remote past but also to safeguard a few more recent buildings that are both visually inspirational and an environmental asset for the local community.