The proposed demolition of the oil depot built by the British abutting historic Castille bastion in Vittoriosa has stirred controversy.

Some say the building forms part of our heritage, while others, myself included, think that it is out of place. Besides obscuring the fortifications, is it also doing a lot of damage to the stonework.

But I would like to refer to another building that cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as historical. I am referring to the structure next to the Maċina in Senglea, which once served as a restaurant but is now abandoned and falling to pieces.

The building stands on the site where Senglea's main gate used to be during the Great Siege of 1565. A sea-level gun battery was also deployed here, manned by Maltese to watch over the boom defence made of ships' masts that closed the creek from the Cospicua side.

In the accompanying photograph I have attempted to visualise what the Senglea front would look like if this unsightly building were to be removed. Surely, unlike the proposed removal of the oil depot, nobody would object to such a move.