Decision on extension of St John's Co-Cathedral museum suspended

(Adds statement from St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation) A planning authority decision for the extension and refurbishment of the St John's Co-Cathedral museum has been suspended after the International Council on Monuments and Sites expressed concerns about the project. The St John’s Cathedral Foundation applied to expand its museum onto the Great Siege cemetery, which is dominated by the communal grave where the remains of the heroes of the Great Siege are buried. The aim was to use the hall to exhibit all the Flemish tapestries together. The proposed project had been met with disapproval from Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar which said that while the proposed Caravaggio Centre and Cappella Ardente hall were well-conceived, blocking the view of the cathedral by a massive new structure on Merchants’ Street was far from acceptable. FAA argued that creating exhibition space could neither be considered restoration nor rehabilitation of the building and the hall changed the area from a cemetery for the heroes who fell to defend Malta and Europe, into a lobby where a museum made money from the sale of tickets and gifts. The authority's heritage advisory committee said its website that it...