Last February the Planning Authority [PA] scheduled the late 19th century townhouse on Triq il-Karmnu in St Julian’s (that for many years also served as the residence of Malta’s former president, Dr Censu Tabone) as a Grade 1 building, the highest level of heritage protection possible.
The property’s heritage value is not limited to the fact that it is one of the earliest documented residences in the locality, having been built when St Julian’s was no more than a small fishing village, but is also tied to the unique open-air theatre found in its extensive back garden.
In its quarterly publication SHAPES, the Planning Authority itself explains how according to ‘historical documentation’, having been built in the 1870s, Teatru Melita, as it was known, ‘is considered to be the oldest surviving theatre of any kind in the Tas-Sliema and St Julians area’. The PA goes on to describe the ‘important role’ it played in making theatre a popular platform for entertainment, not only in the locality but in all of Malta, having been the birthplace of the ‘most important theatre company of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’, the ‘Kumpanija L-Indipendenza’.
Not one to miss an opportunity to share its noble acts with the general public, the Planning Authority made sure to publish the news of the property’s scheduling across all its media outlets including its official website and Facebook page.
Today, only a few months after gloating about scheduling this unique property, the Planning Authority’s Executive Council will be considering its descheduling, which if upheld, would mean stripping the property of the heritage protection it was just granted.
The request for descheduling was initiated by the property owners. In a report prepared on their behalf by a ‘conservation architect’, the owners argue that the only features of this townhouse worth retaining are the façade and the arched entrance hall. The conservation architect argues that the theatre has ‘no particular relationship to the surroundings’ and goes on to explain how it could be ‘better integrated with any eventual development of the site’. The implication of this being that there would be no issue with disassembling the structure and rebuilding it in another location. In his report, the architect fails to make any reference to the open-air theatre’s unique role in Malta’s social history. The conservation architect concludes that the property’s scheduling should be changed to a Grade 3 status, the lowest level of protection available, that in practice is sadly given little, if any, regard.
Perhaps the requested descheduling can be better understood when one considers the pending development application pertaining to this property. Developers wish to demolish the property, retain only its façade, excavate the site, then develop basement garages and fourteen residential units above. The entrance hall would be ‘reconstructed’. The open-air theatre, that the developer is claiming to be structurally unstable, would also be dismantled and reconstructed, however, in another location since the theatre’s present location would make it impossible to maximize the potential size of each proposed residential unit.
Conveniently, the proposed development happens to align perfectly with that suggested by the conservation architect.
In June, the Planning Commission had already met to discuss the proposed development which had been recommended for refusal. At the hearing, the developer requested that the case be deferred to allow time for the Planning Authority’s Executive Council to decide on the requested descheduling. The Chairman of the Planning Commission allowed the deferral, however, he noted that the recommended refusal was by no means solely based on the fact that the property had been listed as a scheduled building.
Being one of the oldest properties in St Julian’s constructed using traditional building methods of stone slabs and timber beams, the property serves as a perfectly intact representation of a characteristic heritage building that under current planning policies cannot be demolished whether scheduled or not. The unique social history of this building only adds to the need to ensure its preservation in its entirety.
Current policies also call for the protection and safeguarding of back gardens and green enclaves in old urban cores. The presence of the unique open-air theatre further underscores the need to preserve this garden which serves as its backdrop and contextual setting.
Whatever is decided by the Executive Council at today’s meeting, the development of this site remains unacceptable. However, it would be hard to imagine how the very same group of individuals that granted this property Grade 1 status could possibly justify stripping it of this heritage protection only five months later.
Tara Cassar is an architect focusing on planning policies and environmental issues related to land-use.
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