Through restoration work undertaken by Valletta Waterfront, the true history of the building that used to house the old power station is in the process of being discovered. The building, which from 1896 housed Malta’s first power plant, in fact has a history dating back to the second half of the 17th century.
In the coming months the site will be completely restored and redeveloped to become an integral part of the Valletta Waterfront project. Those who attended the Amedeo Minghi concert were able to get a first glimpse of the inside of the impressive 800 square metre hall inside the building. But few will be able to read the signs of the building’s development over the centuries.
The original building was erected at the time of the construction of the Floriana fortifications. Initially used as grain stores, the buildings at the foot of Crucifix Hill went on to house a lime kiln and lime store, a water cistern and a vast oil vat, which was used to store oil for street lighting. This use began to decline with the introduction of gas street lighting in the harbour area in 1857. Following more alterations to the structure in 1894 and 1895, the building became the home of Malta’s first electricity generating unit, a role it maintained until 1960.
Although left abandoned in the second part of the 20th century, Valletta Waterfront is now in the process of restoring the building. Several proposals have been submitted to Viset, the operators of the Waterfront, on the possible use of the building once the work is complete.
Located close to the Forni Terminal and the various outlets which line the Laguna, the redeveloped power station building will in the near future further enhance the revitalization of the harbour area.
The Calcara Oil Vats –
Il Magazino
The site earmarked for the construction of the oil vats was literally squeezed between the fortifications and previous development in the adjacent areas. The vats were built at the back of the stores between the lime kiln located right below Calcara Gate, and the Batteria del Molo.
The latter was a small defensive structure protecting the approach to the gate nearby. Its relevance diminished as the number of warehouses and stores of all sorts multiplied extending a bit more towards the Marsa area each time. The oil vats were eventually built in 1727 as recorded in the Cabreo Fondazione Vilhena (NLM, Treas. B 310, f 22); however their outline differs slightly from the original proposal. Their construction is contemporary to one of the Forni stores.
The plan, which follows the outline of the neighbouring lime store, consisted of nine oil vats of 900 cafisi each (approximately 10,000 litres) and an area used for the storage of jars. The vats were partly rock-hewn and partly built using masonry. A proposal dated 1726 gives a relatively clear idea of how the structure would have looked like.
It is nonetheless more likely that the magazino as it is known today was an extension of the oil vats rather than a Polverista, as has been suggested probably due to the fact that it has a pitched roof. Furthermore, 19th century drawings record this building as being part of the oil vats.
This is also consistent with the fact that the original oil vats underwent successive extension works, the latest being in 1853. The need for such a large storage facility for oil may be explained by the fact that the oil stored in the vats was not edible oil but fuel for lamps. Carmel Cassar (Mallia-Milanes 1988, 112-113) describes the use of oil lamps for street lighting in the middle of the 19th century, and indicates that gas lighting was only implemented in the harbour area in 1857.
The oil vats were progressively incorporated within the newly built power station, and were ultimately converted into coal stores at the turn of the 20th century. All internal structures were removed, but for a few marble panels that had been used to label the vats. The battery wall had, by then, already disappeared within the dense urban fabric of the surroundings.