Manikata chapel to be surrounded by apartment blocks on both sides

The Manikata chapel which has been dwarfed by an apartment block and was the source of outrage in 2022 might now be surrounded by apartment blocks on both sides

By: maltatoday.com

Jul 02 2024
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Manikata chapel to be surroun

The Manikata chapel which has been dwarfed by an apartment block and was the source of outrage in 2022 will now be surrounded by apartment blocks on both sides.

A planning application shows that the applicant, Alex Tanti, is planning, “internal alterations to existing building, retaining existing facade; and construction of ground floor garage and maisonette, six apartments and two overlying penthouses.”

Nationalist MP Ivan Castillo took to Facebook on Tuesday as he blasted government for failing to learn from the public outrage seen a few years ago. “This church has just been restored and what’s going to happen will be the equivalent of it being brought down.”

Castillo said that he will present a parliamentary petition so that he could, “stop this madness.”

In 2022, MaltaToday had reported that, the Curia had had dropped its earlier objections to the development following “an understanding” reached with the developer.

In fact in 2018, an architect representing the Curia had warned that the new building will “overpower” and “engulf” the chapel and the open space around it. The architect had also described the design as being “blank and dull.”

However, the case officer report referred to a second letter from the Archdiocese of Malta stating that following changes to plans “it finds no objections to the current proposal.”

Similarly, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage had originally expressed concern on the demolition of vernacular structures on the site and the “extensive development abutting a significant chapel, which would have a negative impact on views of the chapel and may cause material damage.”

But after analysing a 3-D image of the proposal which was never published on the PA’s public information system, the SCH gave its go-ahead, after concluding that the proposed development will integrate the facade of the old building, while the proposed volumes were “terraced so as to mitigate visual impact on the chapel”.