More than 1,500 spaces, 400 more than at present, will become available at Floriana’s MCP multi-storey car park after its hollow inner core is built up.
The project will improve the car park’s operations and enhance the mundane act of parking a vehicle
The entire site will however be roofed over with a public garden and the visual impact softened – no parked cars will be visible on the approach to the structure from St Anne’s Street, according to the project description statement.
The €5 million project is expected to be completed 18 months after the planning permit, which is being processed, is issued.
The cost will be shouldered by the car park’s operators.
Announced by the Nationalist government six months before the general election, the project “will improve the car park’s operations and enhance the mundane act of parking a vehicle”, the statement says.
Headed by architect Ray DeMicoli, the plan is to shift the exit and entrance points, especially because of the City Gate project and the relocated bus terminus. There will be a three-lane entrance from Nelson’s Avenue and a three-lane exit to Great Siege Road.
The single-lane tunnel that leads out to the waterfront would be used as an entrance to relieve the peak morning traffic from Marsa and Blata l-Bajda. Drivers will be able to use the new road junction leading from Marsa’s December 13 Road once those works are complete.
During the evening rush hour, the tunnel would be used as exit to the waterfront and on to December 13 Road, allowing drivers to avoid St Anne’s Road completely.
Cars will be completely protected from the elements. The inner core of the car park, which is six stories high, will be built up. A stand for electric cabs will be found in Level -1 which will also house the cash office.
The building will be extensively covered by heavy landscaping and the structures protruding above street level will be demolished. The landscaping will conceal the ramp from St Anne’s Street.
The garden, which will be open to the public, will have a kiosk, outdoor furniture and a play area.
The report says the car park will remain fully operational during the main construction phases and once the central section is secured, the core would be built up.
It is expected that most of the work will be done between 4pm and 2am to minimise disruption.
Pedestrian access will be through four staircases and there will be a bridge leading directly to the Commonwealth War Memorial Garden.
The project is linked to a parliamentary motion, presented by former small business minister Jason Azzopardi, for the lease of the land on which the car park is situated to be extended by another 65 years.
It was approved last October but led to the resignation of Nationalist MP Jesmond Mugliett from the House Audit Committee. He had said that while he agreed that the lease should be extended, he disagreed with the government paying around €3.2 million to acquire 100 of the new parking slots for use by public sector employees at reduced rates.
No commercial activities will be allowed at the car park other than car valeting and possibly a sports facility such as a gym.
Inaugurated in February 1995, the original 50-year lease on the car park was granted in 1991.
The Valletta Rehabilitation Committee had suggested that MCP incorporate a roof garden into the design when it was being built but this suggestion was not taken on board at the time.