Replica must replace removed Attard niche

Developers want to replace an old protected niche of Our Lady of Grace with a replica after the original disappeared from the façade of a dilapidated building in Attard, along Mdina Road.

The replica will be integrated in a modern development consisting of a coffee shop and overlying offices proposed by Graham Borg.

The application originally foresaw both the ‘sanctioning’ of the “removal” of the niche and its relocation. But in September 2020 the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage denounced the disapperance of the niche from the façade of the buildings, which had “been recently wilfully damaged”.

The SCH insisted that the niche be either restored in its totality or if not possible, “the perpetrator has to make a replica” and “compensate the irreversible damage and loss of authenticity by a separate agreement with the SCH”.

The SCH reserved the right to take any further action in view of breeches of the Cultural Heritage Act.

Subsequently the developer presented new plans, including a replica of the original niche.

But the Superintendence noted that “a previously existing lantern and coin donation box had been omitted from the proposed design” and these should be included in the design of any replica.

The Superintendence is demanding a separate agreement to compensate for the loss of the original niche, without which there will be no consent for the replica application.

The building itself where the niche is located is in a very poor state of preservation and and has no significant cultural heritage value which would warrant preservation.