Promised in 2013, Marsa arts hub now slated for 2031 completion

The promised carnival village in Marsa, rebranded over the years as an ‘Arts and Cultural Hub’, will not be completed until 2031 and the price tag has ballooned to €63 million, the culture ministry has confirmed.

Should the project be completed by then, it would be delivered nearly two decades since it was first pledged.

“The project, which is currently projected for completion by the end of 2031, represents an estimated investment of approximately €63 million,” a ministry spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the government “remains fully committed to delivering the Arts and Culture Hub in Marsa”, adding that the first phase of the project is currently under way, while the main construction tender is being finalised ahead of publication, “subject to the necessary approvals”.

The project first appeared in the Labour Party’s 2013 electoral manifesto. Architect William Lewis, who also serves as the PL’s organisational secretary, drew up the plans.

Then culture minister Owen Bonnici announced in 2015 that the €6 million facility would be ready by 2018. By 2017, he said it was almost within reach, and in 2019, he shifted the deadline to the end of 2020. Neither target was met.

Times of Malta had revealed that the current proposal, spearheaded by Festivals Malta, is a major revision of their original ‘Malta Carnival Experience’ project, which was approved by the Planning Authority in October 2016.

Almost €4.2 million in EU funds were allocated to the project three years after the manifesto pledge, with a scheduled completion date of June 2020.

In 2016, Polidano Brothers were awarded a €428,000 contract to excavate the site. More tenders were issued in 2017 and 2019: one for €2.2 million was awarded to Bava Holdings, and another for €884,465 for mechanical and electrical work went to Kencar Group.

However, even with these contracts signed, progress stalled, and sources told Times of Malta in 2024 that the EU funds originally earmarked for the project had been redirected elsewhere.

The discovery of historical remains on the site, located in the Albert Town industrial area, made the situation more complicated. The ministry said that earlier setbacks were due to “unforeseen increases in excavation and material disposal costs.” They stated that the original plan “could not be delivered within the funding framework available at the time.”

Following what the spokesperson called a “comprehensive reassessment”, Festivals Malta drew up a far larger scheme.

The revised plans had tripled the gross floor area from 26,970 square metres to 77,200 square metres, having a sharp increase of 286 per cent. The Planning Authority unanimously approved the enlarged scheme that same month.

The expanded hub is set to include carnival workshops, music rehearsal spaces, professional dance studios, a 380-seat indoor theatre, a 914-seat outdoor theatre, a carnival museum, a 5D cinema with 616 seats, multidisciplinary artistic spaces, and offices for Festivals Malta.

The ministry added that apart from the total investment costing approximately €63 million, it also includes €15 million secured through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with the remaining funding being provided through national investment.

Works started in early 2026 after the ERDF funding was secured. The spokesperson insisted that “the project has not been deprioritised or shelved”, adding that “works are progressing in phases and the government remains committed to seeing this landmark investment through to completion.”

When the government unveiled the Grand Harbour Revival Plan last February, the hub was effectively absorbed into the broader vision for the regeneration of the Marsa waterfront.

The struggle to find a dedicated space for the arts dates back to 2011, under the Nationalist government, when carnival participants were asked to vacate Fort St Elmo with no alternative in sight.

At the time, the president of the Carnival Participants Association warned that the tradition could have been “saved” much sooner by simply building 27 hangars at a cost of under €700,000.