The Malta Council for Science and Technology has received the go-ahead from Mepa to build a ferry quay and extend the Kalkara waterfront promenade.
The permit forms part of the National Interactive Science Centre and will “create a public open space and adequate access to the new centre” together with a quay for temporary mooring of a small ferry.
This would improve Kalkara’s public transport system and provide an adequate infrastructure to connect it with the Three Cities, Valletta and Sliema, the case report said.
The development, which was recommended for approval, will cover an area of approximately 5,000 square metres of reclaimed land within Kalkara Creek. The Environment Protection Directorate did not find any objection to the project and neither did the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, which commented on the importance of the site’s location adjacent to historical buildings.
These include the former naval hospital, known as Villa Bighi, with its distinctive stretcher lift, a pumping station, the sea water therapy room, and the chaplain’s house. All these buildings are listed as Grade 2.
The site forms part of the Grand Harbour waterfront and “has been left for a long time underutilised, misused and inaccessible”. The embellishment would “regenerate the use of an open space” and improve the historical image of the area, the report added.
The works will include clearing dumped material along the foreshore and piling works on the seabed to support the ferry quay, exhibit platform and walkway.
Following consultations with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, a monitoring programme has to be submitted highlighting mitigation measures and monitoring to safeguard the historical buildings and any archaeological findings.
The €26 million project, €12 million of which will be financed by the EU, will locate the science centre at the former Royal Navy hospital within the Villa Bighi Complex in Kalkara. There will be a trial period towards the end of 2015, with the centre projected to open in 2016.
The development will be built on 22,000 square metres of land and include an area for a cafe and retail outlets as well as interactive spaces with themes including human biology, laws of motion and engineering. Part of the former hospital will be turned into a planetarium.
Works will include restoration of the old lift, offering access to the Grand Harbour.