Update 17 July - Adds video
Fifty innovative ideas that could give a new lease of life to Marsa are being exhibited this weekend in a former power station dug underground in the 1950s.
Synonymous with the power station and shipbuilding, Marsa is closely associated with sports and horse-racing, but also with pollution, industrial decline and socio-economic problems.
Meanwhile, it is also a gateway to southbound traffic, while its assets range from the archaeological to built and industrial heritage. An example is the Marsa A station, dug beneath Jesuits’ Hill with Marshall Aid funds, which was inaugurated in 1953 and decommissioned in 1994.
The station was extended underground in the 1950s and 1960s because of the looming war threat, when the exhaust was monitored not because of environmental concerns, but rather not to attract the attention of the enemy.
Today and tomorrow, its turbine hall, which still hosts a turbine installed in 1960, will be open to the public for the first time together with one of the station’s three entrances. The place has been brought to life with dissertation projects by master’s students in architecture and engineering, who were asked to envisage Marsa and the inner harbour area in 2050.
The place has been brought to life by master’s students asked to envisage it in 2050
One of the ideas is to create a Malta Applied Arts Centre within the shipbuilding area, including the Dock Seven road that was recently opened up to alleviate Paola’s traffic flow.
Jonathan Avellino and four fellow students came up with the idea to transform existing buildings into an Applied Arts Faculty, an incubation centre for start-up manufacturing companies and an exhibition space that could host something similar to the Venice Biennale.
Taking into consideration the community’s needs as well, a spot could be allocated for marine facilities for Paola regatta participants, who do not yet have access to such facilities.
The project looks into every detail, and Mr Avellino’s job in this project was to link all four facilities with regenerated open spaces, making it easy for commuters and patrons to move from one place to another.
The exhibition will be open today and tomorrow between 9am and 1pm.