Heritage watchdog demands replica of illegally demolished Marsaxlokk house

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has shot down plans for the reconstruction of a heritage building in Xatt is-Sajjieda in Marsaxlokk, which had been illegally demolished in 2010, and is insisting on a “closer replication of the historic façade.”

Noting that the façade proposed in an application for the construction of a five-storey hotel on this site “in no way resembles the historical facade as it had been unfortunately demolished”, the SCH called for an amended design, omitting any protruding balconies, which includes “three arched terraces at first-floor level”, to recover its architectural values and preserve the traditional streetscape.

The watchdog was reacting to plans for a five-storey guesthouse in between two, protected buildings fronting the Marsaxlokk promenade, where the former building, also protected, was illegally demolished.

The building was demolished after the police ordered the owner to remove dangerous structures due to falling masonry. Subsequently, a permit allowed the owners to carefully dismantle a dangerous collapsed roof, but not the façade of the old building. Instead it was demolished in its entirety.

But in 2017, the Planning Authority not only “sanctioned” the illegal demolition of the protected building against a planning contribution of €50,000, but allowed the owners to build a restaurant and an overlying maisonette in its place. The façade of the restaurant was to be an exact replica of the demolished building, finished in pointed weathered stone, and timber and glass apertures.

The plot stretching between the picturesque Xatt is-Sajjieda and the residential Triq tas-Silg, where the hotel is being proposed, is partly located in the Urban Conservation Area where development cannot surpass two floors.

The owners want three receded floors on the part of the plot which is outside the UCA boundary. A pool area is being proposed on the part of the building where the height is limited to two storeys.

Moviment Graffitti and Flimkien Ghall Ambjent Ahjar have both objected to the application on the grounds that past illegalities should not be rewarded. FAA reminded the Planning Authority that planning rules excluded the demolition of scheduled buildings. Graffitti expressed its concern that approval of the new development would send the message “that demolishing protected buildings is acceptable since new buildings can still be allowed to be built on the same site”.