News | Sunday, 01 February 2009

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Chapter takes secret vote on controversial Cathedral extension

The St John’s Co-Cathedral Chapter has taken a secret vote on the controversial extension to the cathedral museum, but the results have been kept under wraps by the Archdeacon, Mgr Philip Calleja.
The latter has been at the forefront in the controversy in his other role as president of the Co-Cathedral’s foundation, defending the plans for the underground extension to the museum to house the Flemish tapestries donated by Grand Master Ramon Perellos in the early 18th Century.
Although the result of the Chapter’s vote has not been made public, individual canons who spoke to MaltaToday expressed their outright disagreement with the plans. A total of 25 canons and four honorary canons, a dean, precentor, treasurer and archpriest make up the Chapter.
While many of the canons interviewed requested anonymity, one particular member of the chapter, Mgr Prof. Carmel Cassar, warned of “irreversible damages” that might be caused if the project goes ahead as planned. Mgr Cassar, who could not go to vote for health reasons, told MaltaToday: “My personal opinion is that we would be going against the wishes of the benefactor, the Grandmaster, who donated the tapestries to be housed inside the Co-Cathedral and nowhere else.”
Mgr Cassar said he believed no other solution was acceptable.
“The only place for those tapestries is inside the church. I understand there might be difficulties because of pollution and other elements, but there are ways to protect them. Those tapestries should be exhibited permanently inside the church. It would be to the benefactor’s great frustration to put them elsewhere.”
Mgr Cassar added that he expected the Archbishop to have his say on the matter.
“How come our Co-Cathedral has become something like a government department? I feel personally offended,” Mgr Cassar said.
Attempts to contact Mgr Calleja yesterday proved futile. However, in a press release sent by the Co-Cathedral foundation, he alleged that damage will be caused to the Co-cathedral if nothing was done.
“The foundation cannot understand how the co-financing (with the EU) of a project that will serve to preserve and lessen the current stress on the Co-Cathedral and enhance the experience of the 400,000 visitors can be put to question,” Mgr Calleja said.
Calleja’s argument also implies that proposals to house the tapestries in other historical buildings in Valletta – as suggested by conservation NGOs such as Flimkien Ghall-Ambjent Ahjar – would also ‘frustrate’ the dead Grandmaster.
Ironically, this view is also held by the Co-Cathedral Foundation which is pressing for the underground extension.
According to the Project Development Statement commissioned by the Foundation, the artefacts currently housed in the museum – of which the Flemish tapestries require the most space – are all directly connected with St John’s Co-Cathedral, having been donated for the venue by Grand Master Perellos.
“Exhibiting these tapestries elsewhere in Valletta would be a departure from established trends in museum management,” the document states.
In fact the document focuses on the two proposals favoured by the Foundation, namely extending it by four underground exhibition halls, and constructing a three-storey structure on the existing courtyard.
The document also notes that excavations needed for the construction of the underground halls has to be considered with “substantial caution” because of their impact on known and unknown underground structures.
It also warns of the possibility of damage caused by vibrations which could have an adverse impact on the Cathedral itself, and calls for geological, hydrological and geotechnical investigations in the EIS.
The document also acknowledges that the other alternative, that of building on the existing courtyard, will have a significant visual impact which can only be mitigated by the quality of the architectural design.

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