A secondary school is to be built on the site of the Pace Grasso football ground in Paola, Education Minister Dolores Cristina confirmed in parliament this evening.
The announcement means a departure from plans, drawn up eight years ago, which were meant to turn the site into a complex of residential units and sports facilities.
Those plans, announced in 2002 by then Parliamentary Secretary Jesmond Mugliett, had included a home for the elderly, assisted-living apartments for the elderly, offices, a commercial area, parking bays and lock-up garages. The original project was meant to be a public-private partnership.
The Pace Grasso football ground was built in 1946 on top of wartime bombing debris. It was originally called the Schreiber ground but was later renamed Pace Grasso after two Hibernians FC supporters - Harry Grasso and Victor Pace - who died in a fireworks explosion on a truck as they headed home after their team lost against Sliema on June 8, 1952