WWII shelter fight goes on

The planning authority has turned down an application for the restoration of a World War II air-raid shelter in Dingli Street, Sliema, but the new local council plans to have another go.

Last proposal led to loss of parking

The application was filed last year but was rejected because it lacked a restoration method statement.

The new Sliema authority has an in-depth study in hand and plans to re-activate the project.

Lawyer Kris Busietta, the councillor responsible for heritage sites in the locality, said it planned to re-submit the application with a detailed study of the shelter and a restoration method.

The previous council had proposed installing a lift in what was originally the air vent to connect the shelter to street level, but the Malta Environment and Planning Authority heard this would have involved excavating part of the shelter.

The council also proposed turning part of it into a small-scale interpretative centre, including a toilet and a space for ticketing.

Mepa’s case officer recommended refusal, deeming the proposed project unacceptable because of loss of parking and aesthetic considerations.

The Sliema Heritage Society said the fabric of the shelter was very delicate in some areas and therefore needed special treatment.

According to the association, the proposed lift and paving around the shelter would compromise the architectural and urban qualities of Dingli Circus and severely distort the distinctive geometry.

It said the proposal excluded the subterranean medical clinic, which lies underneath Karm Galea Street, and recommended this should be included in the preservation project.

According to Mepa’s heritage planning unit, the timber decking on the floor of the entire subterranean complex “is deemed unfit for such a humid place”.

Dr Busietta said the council had filed an application with the Land Department for the shelter to be passed on to it.

Once this was granted, it planned to submit a fresh application with a detailed restoration method statement. The council’s architect was in the process of estimating how much the project would cost, he said.

Air-raid shelter facts

Dingli Street air-raid shelter is one of about 100 recorded shelters in Sliema excavated during 1941.

It was designed to take 150 people but, according to first-hand accounts, there were never more than 30 people at any given time during a raid.

Known as shelter 119, the subterranean structure stretches more than 90 metres in length.

Although well-sized, it is not as big as the pair of air-raid shelters discovered in Prince of Wales Road, which could take 1,000 people each.

Interest in the shelter began in 1998 when a group of University architecture students rediscovered it and began cleaning and recording the site.

(Information supplied by the Sliema Heritage Society.)