Was This The First Sliema Townhouse Bulldozed In The Name Of Progress?
Many who love the cultural heritage retained through Sliema’s iconic townhouses will tell you they’ve been protesting the bulldozers of change for many years. But this photograph from the 1980s by David Demarco caught one of the first townhouses knocked down… and in doing so captured an accidental omen of worse times to come.
The original building, Villa Cassar Torregiani, was replaced by what is now the Diplomat Hotel on Tower Road.
The photo was posted to Facebook by his daughter, Joanna Demarco, who is herself a photographer and a photo-journalist. Late last year she snapped A Eulogy For The Sliema Townhouse, a visual journey of the destruction that goes on every day.
And just to really drive the painful point home, this is what the building looked like before its demolition.
Photos: David Demarco
If you have any shots from the past, or have documented anything similar to this, send your story over to [email protected]