Considering what has been debated and written about the substitute of the old opera house, it appears that the majority of the people of these islands want an all-weather theatre, one with a permanent roof on.
One concedes that to make it sustainable, the theatre must function both for cultural activities and for commercial entertaining productions, otherwise it wouldn't have a successful future.
Therefore, setting off from this hypothesis, this Administration must provide the architect with all the area that he would require to design a theatre that would function as aforesaid.
Hence, spacewise the theatre must be given priority over Freedom Square and over Parliament House.
The architect should be allowed not only to encroach onto Freedom Square, but also to orientate the longitudinal axis of the theatre parallel with Republic Street, so as to enlarge its footprint, thus increasing its seating capacity, and to accommodate all its ancillary units above street level, rather than place some of them underground, as has been proposed.
With more area at his disposal the architect would be able to place the entire auditorium in front of the stage, rather than having about four rows of seating behind it, as proposed. I would have thought that the back-stage area is essential for certain vital operations, in which case the larger it would be, the better.
Although on the one hand the neo-classical opera house designed by Edward Middleton Barry in 1860 was not in harmony with Valletta's austere architecture, and it had its deficiencies, yet it was a magnificent edifice that enhanced our capital city in no uncertain way.
If, to have a theatre to suit current exigencies, the present footprint has to be increased considerably, then it would be just as well not to rebuild the old opera house exactly where and as it was, in which event one should forget about the existing ruins and redesign the proposed theatre on new foundations, in a form and style that would not clash with the existing architecture of Valletta.
After utilising what would be required of Freedom Square, the remaining area would obviously be integrated with Republic Street as a square of whatever size it would result; but certainly it should not be used to accommodate Parliament House. The theatre should be given centre stage. Parliament House in its vicinity might have an adverse impact on it, and might overshadow it. It would certainly create an overcrowded environment.
If, come what may, the Administration insists to have its Parliament House in the heart of Valletta, then why not develop the site where the Central Bank is situated, which already has a sizable parking area in front of it? Surely the Central Bank could be accommodated in one of the several auberges that government owns.