Nearly 12 years have gone by since the Fort Cambridge Development Brief was issued. This prime site in Tigné was granted to developers at very favourable rates, with a substantial number of apartments proposed. In return, Fort Cambridge Battery was to be restored and the Officers Mess, which complements the battery, to be rehabilitated.
The Officers Mess building is described as an “important building” with “a characteristic and interesting sheltered courtyard” whose design and style follows that of the façade. (Fort Cambridge Development Brief, p12). Despite opposition from residents, developers received further permission in 2008 for an increase from 16 to 23 floors for additional apartments.
The use of the Officers Mess was specified in the Brief as either a boutique hotel, or use as residential, educational or high-tech offices. The Brief also stipulates in several places that height is not to be increased above four floors, so as to complement the low profile of the Battery and also to provide a ‘stepping down’ effect from the proposed towers to protect the surrounding residential area.
What has the public gained in exchange for this development? Not a lot it seems. The area has been left as a building site for over 10 years. The neglect of the Officers Mess is plain for all to see, a deliberately abandoned eyesore, a haven for drug abuse and vandals.
A recent letter by a resident of the towers reports that the battery too, has been abandoned. To add injury to insult, taking advantage of a loophole in the new planning laws, a proposal has been made to demolish the Officers Mess and construct a 40-storey tower on the highest point in Tigné. As a sop to environmental planning, the outside shell may be retained.
This unique building, the sole remaining intact example of British Colonial military architecture in Sliema, should be scheduled Grade 1. This would offer protection from development. Not surprisingly, Mepa never scheduled the building, despite repeated reminders from the Sliema local council, though it did manage to schedule adjacent buildings and even the letterbox opposite, in Tigné Street. The Planning Authority is now looking again at buildings of heritage significance in Sliema for scheduling. One wonders whether the Officers Mess will once again be passed over, allowing yet another part of our heritage to be lost forever.