While there's a resurgence of interest in ADA recently, the general sense is that it's WAY overdesigned and heavy.

I came across this bit of humor a while back that communicates the general feeling well:

http://bit.csc.lsu.edu/~gb/csc4101/Reading/gigo-1997-04.html

If the problem IS that it's huge and inelegant, then the solution isn't to try to improve it, but to start from a clean slate. Julia looks like a reasonable attempt.