The Mepa board on Thursday approved two of three applications regarding the restoration of Fort St Elmo in lower Valletta – that regarding the fort itself and that regarding its enceinte (the surrounding battlements). A third application regarding Lower St Elmo is still being processed by Mepa.

The government had submitted an application for ERDF funds and this application, amounting to €15.3 million, has been accepted.

Work will begin as early as next month and the restoration should be completed by 2014 following which the fort and enceinte will be passed on to Heritage Malta which then will create a Museum of the Military History of Malta inside the fort.

The enceinte will provide a walkway around the battlements with unique views of the Grand Harbour, the open sea and Marsamxett Harbour. Beginning from adjacent to Malta Experience and ending next to the present War Museum, walking on the ramparts will be completely free, but entering the museum will be against a fee. The walk on the ramparts will add, over the next few months, an important tourist attraction.

Ray Demicoli, the architect in charge of the restoration, told the Mepa board as he began the presentation, that this was an important moment for him since when he was 23 years old his thesis was precisely on Fort St Elmo.

The fort’s DNA and its history is ‘The Guardian of our Harbours’.

In its beginning, before the Order came to Malta, there was only a small tower and a small chapel there. In 1552, when an attack on Malta was expected as imminent (following the 1551 invasion and pillage of Gozo) work was undertaken to build a proper fortress there.

But that was also when what was later called the ‘Maledetto Ravellino’ was erected. This was to have tragic consequences. In the Great Siege of 1565, the Turks attacked Fort St Elmo first. It was later claimed that the Great Siege was won here, for the attack on Fort St Elmo took so long and so many Turks were killed in this most ferocious battle that the Turks gave up on conquering Malta.

But the 1552 hurried building of the star-shaped fort had created a ravellin on higher ground. The Turks conquered this first and from there could shoot inside the fort thus killing many brave knights and Maltese.

Mr Demicoli and his team, as part of their research, drew up a day-by-day diary of the 28 days of the siege and could follow on the spot the events as they led to the inevitable end.

Skipping a lot of its history (it also served as headquarters and later prison for the Mannarino rebels and was later a French fortress during the blockade) the fort then became a British fort. The fort was practically reshaped by the British. Many places inside the old fort were filled in by concrete and present-day restorers have a hard time to clear the concrete to reopen tunnels which had been blocked.

During World War II, the British erected gunposts from which they kept watch against E-boats and they were armed with the famous twin six-pounders and it was this watch which defended the Grand Harbour when the attack came.

During the Order’s time, the ditch was used to cultivate medicinal botany for use in the Sacra Infermeria.

In all its history, the lighthouse on the sea-most part of the fort was always a very important feature. Lighthouses there were many times blown down by storms and re-constructed but it would not be a good idea now to re-construct it as the underlying cavalier is in a very damaged state. However, the lighthouse is on the same axis of Republic Street and thus could serve as a visual attraction.

The fort has two main access points plus other secondary ones. The most old is that known as the Porta del Soccorso, which is on the side, and the other main entrance is that on the Valletta landmass side.

For these past years, the fort housed the Police Academy but this is now moving to its new quarters at Ta’ Kandja. Work can thus begin as early as next month on three blocks – the Cavalier and Block C which are not used by the police and one block which is not used much by the police.

By September, the Police Academy will have moved and work can thus start in earnest. By moving away, the Police Academy will also free the ditch where now some 230 cars park haphazardly. After restoration, no car will be allowed into the fort except the few belonging to the staff, some electric vehicles for people with walking disabilities and vehicles rendering a service.

A bus bay will be created next to Malta Experience for the coaches that bring in tourists. At present, 58,000 visit the War Museum each year and 150,000 visit the Malta Experience. It is anticipated that 79,000 will be visiting the new St Elmo museum by 2015 and 121,000 by 2018, according to Heritage Malta projections.

Mr Demicoli and his team have prepared a massive 414-page Restoration Method Statement after five months of research on the fort. There was continuous consultation with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and Heritage Malta to draw up what needs to be done.

Apart from restoration pure and simple, there will be very few interventions on the fort and on the enceinte.

The Piazza d’Armi will be repaved with hardstone blocks instead of its present concrete and it looks like it will lose its present olive trees. Some buildings along the Piazza will become restaurants and lifts will be added to render the entire fort accessible. Two light bridges made of steel and glass will be added to facilitate access at difficult points.

Research has identified the location of the fort’s important reservoirs and they have all been found.

The cell where Don Gaetano Mannarino spent 23 years after leading the failed insurrection against the Order has been found too, and one wonders how he lasted all those years.

The base of the windmill that appears on many etchings has also been found.

Fort St Elmo had two chapels. The oldest one, dedicated to St Anne, has been deconsecrated and will be devoted to cultural events. The other chapel is still in use as the chapel of the Police Academy. Astrid Vella urged the reconsecration of the older chapel since there is plenty of exhibition space in the fort itself.

As for the enceinte, this was a later addition to the fort. It is said that when Baron Grunenberg came to Malta to add this ring of bastions around the fort, the fort suffered one of the most ferocious Gregales in its history, so much so that fish were found in the Piazza d’Armi.

On this experience, the baron suggested the use of Globigerina limestone blocks for the bastions and these have withstood so many storms practically undented whereas anything made of the softer Franka stone gets eaten away.

The research has also discovered the burial place of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, the former governor of Trinidad and commander in chief in Ireland, who led the successful embarkation at Aboukir to dispossess the French but who, like his hero Lord Nelson, was killed at the hour of his glory.

Through the help of an old incision provided by architect Chris Grech, who teaches at the Catholic University in Washington, the place where he was re-buried was found just under the plaque commemorating him on the enceinte.

At very few points on the enceinte, ramps will be added in places where the sea cannot be seen by a normal person walking on the ramparts.

In addition, in three places, small kiosks will be placed to offer thirsty walking visitors some refreshment.