The Planning Authority has given its green light to the development of a massive arts and culture hub in Marsa.

The new project will comprise 30 interactive workshops, covering a total area of just under 6,250 square metres, 22 carnival float workshops covering almost 5,000 square metres and eight carnival costume workshops covering an area of almost 1,400 square metres.

It will also have dance rehearsal studios, a 57-square-metre museum of local performing arts, a 68-square-metre audiovisual centre and 18 rock band studios. The indoor theatre will seat 380 people while the outdoor theatre in the parade ground will have 914 seats. A 5D cinema will have 616 seats while the cafeteria and souvenir shop will cover an area of almost 1,000 square metres.

The proposal, spearheaded by Festivals Malta, is a revision of the ‘Malta Carnival Experience’ project approved by the PA in October 2016.

Compared to the previous proposal, the total gross floor area has increased from 26,970 square metres to 77,200 square metres – an increase of 286%.

Work on the initial project never began, except for preliminary excavation and site clearance, so fresh plans were submitted for the project to become an Arts and Culture Community Hub.

The site lies in the Albertown industrial estate, between Triq il-Biċċerija and Triq Troubridge.

The PA board on Thursday unanimously voted in favour of the project, for which the authorities applied for EU funds.

The village is expected to create an additional 1,000 daily car trips and may have a significant archaeological impact, given that items of archaeological importance have already been unearthed during preliminary works.

However, plans were amended and excavation was excluded from the part of the site where rock-cut features were found. The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has recommended the appointment of an archaeological monitor during works.

Regarding the increase in traffic, the board was told that although there was a shortfall of 89 underground parking spaces, it was unlikely that all facilities will be in use together at any given time.

The Environment and Resources Authority did not object to the project from an environmental point of view, despite its massive size, concluding in its environmental impact screening process that the environmental impacts of the proposed development are unlikely to be significant.

The hub includes all previously approved workshop spaces, dance studios, museum, audio-visual centre, orientation centre, cafeteria, offices, reception area, security room, stores and parking. It will also include a 5D cinema, an indoor and outdoor theatre and rock band studios.

How big will it be?

While the project's entire floor area has more than doubled, the built footprint of the site was dropped to just over 13,000 square metres from the original 19,215 square metres.

As a result of the considerable increase in gross floor area and reduced footprint, the building will be three floors high and two underground levels. 

The case officer said the total building height was of 17.1 metres when the maximum allowable height for the area was that of 19.9 metres. She also noted considerable high buildings in the surroundings and that the building will not have any visual impact.

Underground parking for 311 parking spaces will be provided.

According to an ERA report, the demolition of existing structures and site clearance works are envisaged to generate approximately 1,900 tonnes of waste material including concrete, bricks, masonry, tiles, ceramics, steel and aluminium, as well as 1,500 metres squared of material containing asbestos.

Excavation works would generate an additional 6,000 tonnes of soil and stone material. ERA said such waste generation is not considered significant as long as all waste is managed in accordance with regulations.

The project was originally featured in the Labour Party’s 2013 electoral manifesto. Three years later, almost €4.2 million of EU funds were allocated to it, and the scheduled end date for the project was set as June 1, 2020.

Yet, despite the Marsa site being chosen, and tenders on the excavation works awarded, work on the project never took off. Sources told Times of Malta that those EU funds were instead diverted to other projects.