Heritage Malta has prepared plans to apply for €10 million from the EU to upgrade Fort St Angelo and its environs, turning it into a tourist attraction, which would give one a cultural experience.

The agency this afternoon took the media on a tour round the fort, on which emergency works should start to be carried out in October.

Exploratory works in preparation for the emergency works are currently being carried out.

These works are to be concentrated around the main entrance, which is also at risk of collapse, the outside ramp and the De Guiral Battery.

The debris that had been thrown after the war has already been cleared and archaeological remains were found.

The emergency works also include the removal of the swimming pool, built in the 1980s, and the water tower.

It is suspected that remains which contain important information dating back to medieval times might be found beneath the pool.

Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario De Marco said that Heritage Malta was in talks with the Order of the Knights of St John and the Cottonera Waterfront Group, both of which occupied parts of the fort, to ensure that there would be one vision for the project and all activities would be complementary.

Heritage Malta architect Rueben Abela said that all pre-1979 structures would be retained as until then the fort had been an active military base.

However, some structures might be removed if this would increase the archaeological value of the fort.