Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

With reference to the letter by Joe Diacono (February 13), Casa Antonia Nursing and Residential Home, as the new owners of this classical building, would like to reassure readers we will be carrying out a smooth transformation of the former Imperial Hotel into a five-star care home for the elderly.

This will be achieved by preserving and enhancing the existing building and its interiors as well as any contents that have been left within the property by the previous owners. The renovation of the property will be carried out and monitored in line with the directions given by Heritage Malta.

As normally happens when there is a change of proprietor, the previous owners have retained most moveable furniture and decorations, including all works of art that adorned the walls of this classic venue.

We would like to thank the correspondent for bringing to our attention a number of murals painted by his beloved late father, Victor Diacono. In the meantime, we have invited him to the venue.

The new management wants to save and restore artistic works that are on site to retain this creative heritage of historical importance. The project is expected to be completed by end 2018.

For us, the transformation of this building into a five-star care home is as important as the professional medical care and services we shall be providing to our loving residents as from 2019.