Many are truly heartbroken and even disgusted at the state of the Australia Hall in Pembroke, which was officially opened on January 22, 1916, in the presence of 1,600 people.

The Australian branch of the Red Cross had raised funds to finance a combined recreation centre/theatre building that would serve to entertain wounded soldiers belonging to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).

Up to 2,000 men could be accommodated as stage productions, dances and other forms of recreation were regularly held there. Later, a library and reading room were introduced and, around 1921, a projection room was added to the structure so that the hall could also be used as a cinema.

A large wall painting at the nearby abandoned White Rocks complex.

The hall eventually became the property of the Maltese government and was later allocated to third parties after the closure of the British military facilities in St Andrew’s Barracks in 1978.

Right up to the withdrawal of the British troops in 1979, the building was in constant use for entertainment of all kinds. It was closed but in December 1998 it was severely damaged by fire and reduced to a derelict roofless shell.

In 1996, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority scheduled Australia Hall as a Grade 2 building of historic, architectural and contextual value as it forms part of a larger scheduled military complex and its protection status was retained and republished following a revision as per Government Notice number 880/09 dated October 30, 2009.

The original blueprints have been found for the building and 6,000sqm grounds, but restoration is likely to require millions of euros.

It is now at the risk of disappearing both physically and from living memory due to different agendas at play. The large painting on one of the walls of the abandoned White Rocks complex not far from the Australia Hall is perhaps a good explanation of the situation… Who cares?

Ms Mary Attard is a keen rambler.

The hall, which used to accommodate around 2,000 soldiers, is now without a ceiling and full of graffiti.