The School of Music will not return to its former building on Old Bakery Street, Valletta because the government is planning to open a College of Arts, where budding musicians will be trained.

“A decision has been taken to build a College of Arts. This will incorporate the School of Music, The School of Drama and the School of Art on one campus,” a spokesman for the Education Ministry said. “The first phase of the project will be the new School of Music,” he added.

The Johann Strauss School of Music was evicted from its old home in Old Bakery Street last year as the building became increasingly unsafe, with the head of school learning of the move only on the day Education Minister Dolores Cristina announced it in a press conference.

Music teaching is being carried out in two centres – at the Valletta primary school and the Lifelong Learning Centre in Msida – meaning the school is split into two “campuses”, which according to the ministry is set to be the case for the next scholastic year.

The government did not disclose where the new college of arts will be built.

There is no specific timeframe by which the new school will be ready because the development applications have yet to be submitted to the planning authority. However, the ministry said the “first phase could be completed within a year from when construction starts. Procedures with the relevant entities have begun to start preparing applications for permits”.

Meanwhile, the fate of the old building on Old Bakery Street, in Valletta is yet to be decided.

“The ministry is exploring all possibilities to make the best use of this historic building,” the spokesman said. It is not yet known when the building will be restored, because, “depending on the ‘new’ use of this building, decisions on the works needed will be made”.