NEWS | Wednesday, 18 February 2009

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Infrastructure minister Austin Gatt has announced that Fort St Elmo will be the third project in the upcoming regeneration project for the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett.
Describing it as “one of the greatest challenges for the government”, Gatt said the government’s vision is to use the upper part of St Elmo for public cultural and artistic events that generally require more space. This would require a more accessible fort in itself.
A walkway will be created to link the area of the Mediterranean Conference Centre, straight down to Pinto Stores by the Valletta Waterfront, to create an unbroken promenade.
The lower part of Fort St Elmo will be converted into a cruise passenger terminal, with two quays for fair weather berthing by cruise liners alongside Marsamxett.
The ring road that passed over the granaries would also be removed, Gatt said, who remarked that originally the road was built over the granaries back in the 1970s.
The historic lighthouse that was removed by the British forces before the Second World War will also be rebuilt for its “aesthetic value” and to create a promontory over the landscape.
A new hotel will be built in place of the Evans Laboratories outside Fort St Elmo to cater for activities related to cruise liners and the Mediterranean Conference Centre. The development of the hotel will include excavating the present site where the ruins of the Chapel of Bones are.
Gatt said that Fort St Elmo was built by the Order of St John in 1550 and that it was high time that the area was restored and regenerated.
The steering committee for the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation (GHRC) is composed of Mark Portelli, who is the chairman of the Malta Maritime Authority; Heritage Malta chairman Joe Said; Stephen Spiteri, superintendent for fortifications; Claude Borg, executive coordinator for the rehabilitation of Valletta, Mdina, and Cottonera; Martin Galea, the president of Din l-Art Helwa; Joseph Caruana, the director-general of the infrastructure ministry; Joe Magro Conti, heritage planning unit manager at MEPA; Jesmond Schembri, head of secretariat for tourism; and Chris Pace, the chief executive for the GHRC.
Gatt said the committee was exploring the possibility of securing EU funding for the project.

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