Rebuilding Opera House site

Over 10 years ago I had suggested, in a letter to the press, that should it prove to be impractical to build an opera house on the site of the destroyed Royal Opera House in Valletta, a building adequate to house Parliament should fill the bombed space. It seems that Government has, after all these years, come round to the same conclusion.

I am not yet convinced that this is the final page in the decades-long saga of rehabilitating the entrance to Valletta. The present debate shows the same characteristics of the old ones - wild statements, airy-fairy ideas, a total disregard of the viability of what is proposed, conflicting views on the style to be adopted and the persons chosen to produce the plan, and the financing of building and maintaining the project.

A healthy debate is very useful, but wild statements and wishful thinking are not.

For example, has anyone who is suggesting that Parliament should be housed in Fort St Elmo ever visited or lived in the place? I have, as an officer in a Territorial Regiment, and I cannot see how this can be done without destroying the fort's historical character, if adequate facilities for a modern parliament are to be provided. Lower St Elmo, especially its top floors, can be put to better use by housing the overcrowded War Museum which could then be enhanced.

Claiming that Parliament is adequately housed as it is, or if need be that it could be given more space in the Presidential Palace, betrays ignorance of the requirements of an efficient parliament. It also shows an absence of sensitivity to the need of visually separating the functions of the Presidency from those of Parliament. In this respect, a palace which is also a historical and an artistic monument suits the Presidency, and bodies directly responsible to it, more than Parliament.

One also hopes that moving Parliament out of the Palace would lead to the enhancement of the square facing it, and the elimination of the car park which is an eyesore, even though it may be a reserved one.

The idea of a cultural centre is a laudable one, but I am not convinced that those who propose it have a down-to-earth plan on what it should contain, how it should be run and financed, and what additional facilities it will provide above those of the Manoel Theatre, the Mediterranean Conference Centre, and St James Cavalier, apart from other places outside Valletta. A pertinent question would be: will the centre provide facilities which a state-of-the-art opera house will not be able to provide, when the opera season is over?

Injecting more life into Valletta after business or office hours would be most welcome, but moving Parliament from the Palace to St Elmo or City Gate, or building an ill-conceived cultural centre in any part of the city, is not likely to make any real difference. The vibrant after-sunset pre-war life in Valletta was due to a concentration of entertainment establishments, including leading cinemas, that have now moved elsewhere. The Royal Opera House contributed also.

The revitalisation of Strait Street, as an alternative to Paceville, is more likely to succeed in restoring this life, but I would suggest that such an initiative need not be limited to any particular street, and that Government should leave such an initiative to business interests.

As far as style is concerned I side with those who are against a 21st century idiom, if this means a glass-metal-concrete skin. One is not consistent if one speaks against the restoration of the bombed opera house because it did not reflect the traditional Valletta style, and at the same time support the building of a modern-style edifice.

In any case, let us keep our feet on the ground, even if our minds indulge in dreams. Let us build what we can afford and maintain in a good condition for the foreseeable future.

Finally, may I appeal to Government not to follow blindly the whisperings of academic and artistic gurus. In the past this has led to an arrogant official attitude which produced grandiose plans that could not be implemented, while the entrance to Valletta languished in the disgraceful state that it is today.