In principle, I have always been of the opinion that the whole block of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta should be administered by the foundation of the cathedral but the few shops selling jewellery on St Lucia Street should not be closed.
Every south Mediterranean city, and especially in Arab countries, has its ‘gold street’. Valletta has always had this small stretch of St Lucia Street where goldsmiths were concentrated. It is part of the history of Valletta.
It is an integral part of the urban fabric of Valletta, which has already been compromised through other developments in other areas. This feature should therefore not be destroyed as well. In any case, these few shops are very small, and little will be gained by closing them.
When I was a member of the Foundation Council, I had proposed that the new building of the museum on Merchants Street should extend all the way over these shops, for two very important reasons.
The first is that as planned the massive new structure will extend over the first shop in St Lucia Street which has been unused for many years. This area will house the beautifully designed circular staircase and the escalator going up to the tapestry chamber [the lift on its own, going up for only two levels, for reasons never explained to me, will cost over half a million euros].
Every south Mediterranean city, and especially in Arab countries, has its ‘gold street’- Ray Bondin
The gained space in St Lucia Street will also house the reassembled Cappella Ardente which is the largest such chapel still in existence, according to a German wood conservation expert, Urlich Schiessl. I had invited Schiessl to study it many years back, and it even bears the name of architect Romano Carapecchia who had designed it.
This small extension on St Lucia Street will create an enormous blank wall which, in my opinion, is a really negative aspect of this project. This blank wall will be visible from St Lucia Street and Republic Street. It will not, in my opinion, be acceptable and I am sure this will face harsh criticism from the public even though it is approved by the Planning Authority.
But the second reason is even more important. I had proposed that this extension over the shops could house the services needed for the new museum which is not only the enormous tapestry chamber but also other rooms such as the crypt and the entrance to the museum.
These services, including two massive heavy electrical generators, the enormous air-conditioning system and others, are now planned to be placed dangerously above the tapestry chamber under a slanting roof, a feature which will be very visible and which will undoubtedly be criticised.
In this proposed extension over St Lucia Street, which will go to the end but not actually touch the historic annex, there could be place for staff rooms or offices.
Hopefully, the present foundation council will rethink its strategy for this area.
Ray Bondin is an expert on historic cities and was president of CIVVIH, the Committee for Historic Cites and Villages, for seven years.