A Vittoriosa square is set to be revamped in a two-year project that will give life to “underutilised space”.

Residents and business owners have generally welcomed the plan to pave and partly pedestrianise the city square, but some have lamented the seemingly modern design and likely parking problems.

The project was approved by the Planning Authority in June last year with the case officer’s report saying that the project will retain “the open nature” of the square and “give use to underutilised space”.

No objections were raised.

In March 2021, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and then Transport Minister Ian Borg announced the victory square project, saying that Infrastructure Malta will rebuild four adjacent residential streets before moving on to the square itself. 

“We will give Vittoriosa square back to the people, with a public space which is more open to Maltese and tourists,” Bartolo said two years ago.

Vittoriosa deputy mayor Christopher Cassar said work on the square has begun, with Infrastructure Malta installing new utility connections.

After that is complete the Malta Tourism Authority will take over, he said.  Once complete part of the square will be pedestrianised with traffic being moved to the side.

The project is expected to take two years but Cassar expects delays because of archaeological findings underneath the square. “The area has a long history,” he said.

Times of Malta spoke to residents and business owners in Victory Square.

Café owner Gianni Bonello said the project will lead to a more beautiful Vittoriosa and more tourism in the area. 

“Tourists often come inside and ask me for directions to the square without knowing they are already in it,” Bonello, who owns Cafe Du Brazil, said.

He hopes that visitors to Vittoriosa will no longer be making that mistake once the project is complete, saying that the pedestrianisation of the square will help his business.  

“You only have to look at (the popularity of) Valletta or Mdina,” he said. 

Sixty-year-old Vittoriosa native Charles De Battista said he is “100 per cent” in favour of the project.  

“Right now, the square isn’t fit for public view,” he said.  

De Battista said the project will not only attract more visitors but will make the area safer for pedestrians.  

“As it is the ground is uneven and at an incline, I’ve often seen elderly people fall,” he said.   Once complete the pedestrianised section of the square will be levelled out. 

Vittoriosa “patriot” Charles Attard said that he is in favour of the project but is only concerned about the festa.

“The planċir (bandstand) in the San Lawrenz feast is usually in the square,” he said.

However, secretary of the San Lawrenz band club Simon Farrugia said that this should not be an issue. “We’ve been assured that the location of the planċir will not be affected,” he said. 

The landscaping in the square will also be movable, allowing for more open space come festa time, he said.  

Restauranteur Ranald Cassar was not so keen on the project, saying that the project means that the square will be home to trucks and construction vehicles for the next few years.  

He said that he also expects delays in the project’s implementation.  

“There are too many projects in the country that move too slowly,” he said. “When works began only two workers were on site,” he added.

“Some roads in Vittoriosa took two years before being completed.”

On social media, several residents criticised the project citing parking issues and the modern look of the square.

The design does not reflect the historic character of the city, one person said.

“There was a clock tower that was destroyed in the war and had to be rebuilt, but never was,” he told Times of Malta.

“If this new square is built I still don’t think a replica of the tower will be rebuilt.”

Vittoriosa’s medieval watchtower, a six-floored structure that had dominated the city’s piazza long before the coming of the Knights in 1530, was partially destroyed in the Luftwaffe’s brutal attacks in 1942.

There have several attempts to rebuild the tower, most recently in 2015.

Another resident said that the square project will lead to less parking for residents.

The project will see the square’s parking spots reduced to 12 from 20.

“Most of the residents objected to the rebuilding of the clock tower because it was also going to reduce the parking space and modernise the square,” she said.

Parking is an issue for many Vittoriosa residents, she said.

“As a resident I can say that I’m happy with the square as it is, if it is to be improved, at least it would be with just tarmac and some old-style planters,” she said.