POLL: An 11-Storey ‘Malta Eye’ In Floriana… Yay Or Nay?
Forget waterparks, cross-island bridges, or towering high-rises; the newest structure on everyone’s mouth this weekend was a Ferris wheel being proposed for Floriana… our very own ‘Malta Eye’, if you will.
Divulging more information, MaltaToday explained how the Ferris wheel would be 45 metres high, which is the same as an 11-storey building. The application for the structure (which is set to include 36, six-passenger capsules) was submitted to the Planning Authority by Liam Mangion, the sole owner of Extreme Events. Mangion is actually a shareholder in another height-centric ride, Paceville’s Slingshot Malta.
The proposed area is the popular Floriana Granaries (that’s the Fossos for many people out there), specifically the site of the car park on the edge of the sprawling area. It would definitely make for some impressive views of Valletta and the surrounding Harbour areas… not to mention a weird, backstage look into mass meetings and the annual Isle of MTV festivals.
Large structures like this metal ball and huge stages have been erected in the area before, but this towering wheel would definitely dwarf all of them
Imagining the view from the top
While the ‘Malta Eye’ would end up being considerably lower than the London Eye (which rises all the way up to 135 metres, a whole three times higher), it would still become one of the highest structures in and around Valletta. And even then, iconic high structures like the Barrakka Lift and the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church would only be 10 and 28 metres higher respectively.
Impressive height aside, the wheel’s base would actually only take up 30 by 20 metres, which is a considerably small area of the car park. “It would also include loading and loading within the area, making it a state of the art, iconic attraction,” entrepreneur Liam Mangion told Lovin Malta.
“It’s a state of the art portable R-50 Bussink design,” Mangion told Lovin Malta of the structure. “It’s the Rolls Royce of the observation wheel.”
Mangion said there actually won’t be any visual impact on the capital city, which is currently celebrating an important year as the European Capital of Culture. “The wheel will produce a lot of smiles, excitement and positive marketing for our island whilst respecting the skyline,” Mangion told MaltaToday. In fact, if green-lit by the PA, Mangion wants the Ferris wheel to be erected this year.
That might sound like an ambitious plan given Malta’s tendency to take its time with infrastructural projects, but since the wheel does not need any foundation works, it can pretty much be installed in just over a week… 10 working days, to be precise.
So, what do you make of the potential ‘Malta Eye’ in Floriana?
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