Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar is again questioning the reasoning behind the roofless theatre proposal for the former Opera House site.
In a statement it said it could not understand the reasoning behind the decision to construct a theatre without a roof on the opera house site, a budgetary compromise which would limit its use in winter as well as in summer when Valletta was subjected to festa noise four days a week.
Performances would also be disturbed by the private functions held regularly in public gardens, the summer festival at Argotti, the Isle of MTV and other concerts on the granaries, the Jazz Festival and Independence Day celebrations.
“It is worth noting that the Ta’ Qali open theatre is no longer used because the noise created by the flight path above disrupts performances.
“Inclement weather in winter will make the theatre unusable for most of the season leaving only a narrow time-frame to generate a return on the capital investment and to cover year-round maintenance,” it said.
FAA referred to what tenor Joseph Calleja said that a roofless theatre was not the best solution.
“We, therefore, also cannot but question the cost-effectiveness of such a major investment on a performance space that can only be used during a few months when the weather is mild and even then there will always be the risk of a performance being disturbed by noise.”
Malta also lacked a national theatre.
A roofless theatre which could never be considered a national one would also exclude school groups from attending performances or listening to Malta's homeless Philharmonic orchestra since schoolchildren could not be expected to sit through performances on wet or cold winter days.
It would also be useless for ballet troupes which could not perform on a damp stage.
FAA proposed that Malta could tap EU funds for the rebuilding of a proper national theatre.
It said that although architect Renzo Piano produced a very interesting concept in his flexible interior layout and use of the latest technology, the ruins would remain a performance space rather than a theatre equipped with rehearsal rooms and other facilities that would foster cultural life, which went far beyond physical space.
FAA added that the symbolic preservation of ruins usually related to structures which were thousands of years old.
Later scars, especially war damage scars, were still being rebuilt.
“Malta already has monuments that recall the horrors of that war; now it is time to look ahead positively by rebuilding a monument to culture which will also attract more tourists to Malta and consequently boost employment in both the tourism and cultural fields.”