The Hon Dolores Cristina, Minister for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, today, officially inaugurated Heritage Malta’s exhibition of the entries for the Design Contest for ‘Enhancing the visitor experience in the Ggantija Heritage Park World Heritage Site’, at Heritage Malta Head Office, Old University Buildings, Merchants Street, Valletta. The Design Contest included proposals for an interpretation centre incorporating all amenities and interpretation facilities.
This project forms part of the €9.2 million Archaeological Heritage Conservation Project, 85% of which is co-financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project includes works on two other sites, namely the Tarxien Temples, and St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat, Malta.
The total budget for the project at the Ggantija Heritage Park is around €2.5million which also includes a study regarding the structural stability of the Temples. Following the submission of the Full Development Application to MEPA, based on the designs of the winning entry, archaeological investigations on the site earmarked for the construction of the Interpretation Centre have also commenced.
The exhibition at Heritage Malta Head Office will remain open until the 21st February 2010. More information about the Design Contest and other aspects of the ‘Archaeological Heritage Conservation Project’ can be viewed on www.heritagemalta.org/erdf032 [1].