Buildings and sites far from the public eye – such as San Souci in Marsaxlokk and the Cottonera lines – could also be turned into sustainable touristic assets, architect, urban planner and architectural historian Conrad Thake said yesterday.

Prof. Thake was addressing a symposium with the theme ‘Maltese national heritage at risk’, organised by the History of Art and Fine Arts Students’ Association and Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar with the support of the Department of History of Art at the University of Malta.

The event was meant to raise awareness among students, academics and the public about the lack of cultural appreciation in Malta. The speakers included senior lecturer Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, British architectural historian Andrew Narwold, author Marcus Binney and former postgraduate student Giulia Privitelli.

Referring to the recent restoration of fortifications, such as those of the Three Cities, Valletta and Mdina, Prof. Thake noted that there were several other sites “out of sight, out of mind”, such as the Cottonera lines, which through a strategic plan, had the potential to be restored and turned into a sustainable space for the public. It could also be an asset in tourism.

Other sites that were overlooked included forts Ricasoli and Delimara, Australia Hall and San Souci.

Prof. Thake noted he was not referring to restoration that preserved heritage sites but restoration that allowed them to be used.

Conservation and the economy were not incompatible, he said, and institutions could draw a strategic plan and vision for such sites. Prof. Thake said there was a need for a wider mindset that looked beyond popular forts and buildings and tapped into sites of different periods, including recent British ones.

Prof. Thake also spoke of the demise of the stonemasonry craft. The construction industry had changed so much over the past years that builders were no longer dependent on such skills, he explained.

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