Protecting and securing Valletta’s shopfronts

I could never understand why in this country of ours we have to praise ourselves for work being done now and forget what was done beforehand.

The article Saving What’s Left Of Valletta’s Old Shopfronts (September 5) gives the impression that this is the first time that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is scheduling Valletta’s shopfronts.

In the early 1990s, the Valletta Rehabilitation Project (VRP) had conducted surveys of the shopfronts of Valletta and when Mepa started to function (under the name of Planning Authority) emergency conservation orders were issued on a number of shopfronts and eventually a considerable number were scheduled.

This was a joint exercise that continued on earlier efforts by VRP to remove a very large number of protruding signs, old wiring and eventually, through Mepa, close to 1,000 illegal air conditioners. There was always in the past a very strong working relationship between Mepa and VRP, with VRP being consulted (and I think they still are) on all applications.

What is indeed incredible is that a number of the scheduled shopfronts were destroyed in spite of being scheduled. The article in fact mentions a kiosk, government property, that was scheduled and still destroyed “when a truck reversed into it”. (I have my own version of what happened). So after all, the article admits, in this one sentence, that there were scheduled shopfronts beforehand.

VRP and Mepa also collaborated substantially as to what buildings, besides the shopfronts, were to be scheduled.

I am very proud of the fact that today many things are taken for granted when this was not the case prior to 1987. It took years to get everyone on board to understand the importance of protecting heritage, including shop­fronts, and on the correct use of materials, colours and fixtures. May I also make some further points. The first is that VRP used to insist that in cases when Mepa allowed the change of a shopfront the original shop sign should be deposited at the VRP stores in the hope that they would eventually be used in a Museum of Valletta: as far as I know only one such sign was ever handed to VRP in spite of conditions in permits given.

Secondly I have over many years insisted that it is not true, as stated in the article, that metal shutters need to be installed on the insistence of insurance companies. In many historic cities I know, shops, even jewellery shops, have special glass allowing evening visitors to browse shop windows and not to be faced with ugly all-enclosing metal shutters.

There is no doubt that through the joint effort of many, a large number of Valletta shopfronts have been restored but unfortunately so many have been destroyed as well.