The planning authority will today discuss whether to schedule the iconic Manikata church, offering it another chance of protection against a risk that it will be compromised by an adjacent development.
A permit to build a store and religious education room attached to the church was granted last month to harsh criticism from experts and NGOs.
The church’s architect, Richard England, has written to the Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Mario de Marco and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage requesting that they issue a conservation order on the church.
“If the permit has been issued, the only way out would be to list the building. Issuing a conservation order, which means it should remain intact, is the sole possibility of rescinding the permit,” Prof. England explained.
He said the proposed development was never submitted to the ecclesiastical authorities. What also raised eyebrows, in his view, was the fact that no methodology statement was issued on how the considerable amount of excavation close to the church’s foundation would be carried out.
While he insisted it was not for him to discuss the merits of his own architecture, Prof. England said the proposed development would “definitely highly compromise the parvis. Once you involve four-metre, factory-like skylights, the idea of the piazza as a meeting place is lost”.
Prof. England was “terribly disappointed at the fact that there is no form of respect and consideration for buildings of a certain quality ”.
He questioned why the Malta Environment and Planning Authority did not issue conservation orders on buildings of merit from the last 60 years – despite the fact that it was “quite a disastrous period ” – as a step to preserve history for the future.
Today’s Malta Environment and Planning Authority board hearing offers a “ray of hope” to the church’s architect and he is keeping his fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, a Mepa spokesperson said the scheduling process for this church and a number of others started over two years ago and involved extensive consultation, research and studies.
“The case officer in his report (on the planning application) clearly highlights that the Manikata church is proposed for Grade 1 scheduling,” he added.
“The planning application had been passed onto the Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee, which was satisfied for the Heritage Planning Unit to make its comments and recommendations on this case.”
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar had expressed its dismay after the permit was granted, questioning why the church had not been scheduled.
In a letter to The Times, the head of the university’s History of Art Department, Mario Buhagiar, said the church, largely built in 1960 but completed and consecrated only in 1974, was “a benchmark building in the history of modern Maltese architecture and an important modern example of a meaningful relationship of a building and its context” .
He said the approved development was in dire bad taste and would entail considerable excavation of the parvis in the sculpturally sensitive area of the bell tower,” he added.
In another letter, architect Conrad Thake called for the proposed project to be withdrawn by the ecclesiastical authorities. “What is being proposed (and unfortunately approved) is nothing short of sacrilegious and would irretrievably compromise the architectural integrity of the Manikata church,” he said.
Dr Thake said the “simple” solution was to accommodate the centre in the old parish church of St Joseph.
In a letter appearing tomorrow, a member of the Manikata Pastoral Commission, Peter Seychell, insists the project would not impact the existing layout, architectural style, façade elevation, perimeter or boundary of the structure of the church itself as well as of the surrounding parvis.
He added that the outward appearance will be faithfully retained, no heights will be altered and the side parvis along with the small belfry and stone structures will remain totally unchanged.