Monument to be temporarily moved during car park works

The permit for the construction of an underground car park in St George's Square, Valletta has not yet been issued but preparations are already being made for the temporary removal of the Sette Giugno monument.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority is still evaluating an application submitted by the Works Division for the construction of a one-storey underground car park there. The planning application includes the upgrading of the square, which will be returned to pedestrians. The square is being used as an open-air car park mostly reserved for MPs.

The division is working hand-in-hand with the Valletta Rehabilitation Committee on the project.

A call for tenders for the "dismantling, hoisting and transporting to store" of the Sette Giugno monument was published in the Government Gazette on February 6. The deadline for the submission of tenders is February 24.

VRC chairman Marie Louise Musumeci confirmed that the removal of the monument was in preparation for the eventual excavation and paving of the square. The monument would have to be removed during the construction works.

Exploratory works, to determine what archaeological remains lie beneath the surface of the square are in process.

Writing in The Times, former VRC chairman Ray Bondin said that Mepa's Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee insisted that "serious" archaeological digs be carried out to identify whether historic underground remains still existed.

Among the possible finds are the remains of the system that used to bring water to a fountain that stood in the middle of the square, the cistern and the base of the triumphal column at one corner of the square.

"The investigations are not enough but, at least, they show that the project, if done, must make a great effort to conserve any archaeological remains," Dr Bondin said.

He also floated the suggestion of combining the now abandoned St John's Cathedral underground museum with the St George's Square project.

"If the St George's Square project is to go ahead, though even here there are concerns about digging up the square (different from St John's Square), then, at least, we should perhaps consider putting the two projects together.

The latest proposal is for one level of parking. Surely, it would be possible to have two other levels to house part of the St John's collection," Dr Bondin wrote.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com