€10 million project to rehabilitate the Gżira pumping station

A Grade 1 Neo-Gothic building is to be restored and, for the first time in its history, opened to the public, complemented by a new garden designed with respect for its historical heritage, the government said. Minister Miriam Dalli and Minister Byron Camilleri on Wednesday presented the plans for the rehabilitation of the pumping station in Gżira, with an investment of €10 million. The pumping station is a scheduled monument and an important pillar of Malta's water infrastructure, dating back to the late nineteenth century. The project will reopen the site's doors, which have been closed for more than a century, and transform the surrounding land into a public garden. "This will be a garden for everyday life, a place where children can play, where elderly residents can enjoy the shade, where the community can organise activities without having to leave its own locality. And it is being carried out, deliberately, with attention to the pumping station itself. This is certainly not an isolated project; the Corporation alone has a number of operational buildings, many of them historically important, spread across Malta. For decades, there has been the impression that historical heritage and modern infrastructure are in conflict. What you are seeing today is proof that this way of thinking is wrong. This is the model we want to continue implementing in our projects," said Minister Miriam Dalli. "It is very encouraging to see projects of this kind being carried out across the country, and I am very proud that today we are here together, as a team, to ensure that this project, being led by the Water Services Corporation in the heart of the island, becomes a reality in the near future. This is an area with its own particular needs. Even in my role as Minister for Home...