The daughter of former Labour prime minister Dom Mintoff has joined a long list of people objecting to plans to restore Cospicua’s historic Rialto Theatre, turn its rooftop into a multi-purpose venue, and develop an adjoining townhouse into a boutique hotel.
“I would like to object to a permit being given for the Rialto in Bormla to be turned into a wedding venue with a roof garden as this will be totally out of character with this prime historic residential area,” Yana Mintoff Bland wrote in a submission to the Planning Authority.
The application (PA/03203/23), filed by Rialto Operations Ltd, proposes to restore the historic and Grade 2 scheduled theatre and cinema building and add an interlinked social club, bar and restaurant.
It also proposes the restoration of an adjoining townhouse by turning it into boutique hotel with a refitted theatre with ancillary catering facilities, a multi-purpose venue at roof level with another interlinked social club, bar and restaurant, a kitchen, and storage.
Overlooking the waterfront at Dom Mintoff's hometown Cospicua, the art deco-style Rialto is owned by the Labour Party. It operated as a cinema for decades before falling into disuse. The building is currently empty, with HSBC Bank having shut down a branch it previously operated on the building’s ground floor.
According to historians, the existing Cinema Rialto lies on the site of an earlier cinema which was destroyed during the Second World War. The current building was opened in 1956 when Dom Mintoff was prime minister.
Rialto Operations Ltd had won a Labour Party call for expression of interest for the lease of the building. It is owned by construction company GP Borg Holdings.
The proposed intervention is completely unacceptable
In a submission it filed with the Planning Authority, the superintendence for cultural heritage demanded more information from the developers before committing to a position about the proposed project.
It observed that the site in question was within the historical city of Cospicua, also in an Urban Conservation Area and an Area of High Landscape Value for the harbour fortifications, which are scheduled at Grade 1 and have been placed on the tentative list for inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The superintendence noted the intent to rehabilitate the cinema as a theatre, saying that any existing features, such as projectors and seating, “if and where possible”, should be retained and reintegrated within the property as part of the experience of a 1950s theatre/cinema space.
It asked for more detailed drawings on how the adjacent townhouse was going to be integrated with the Rialto and more information on the proposed rooftop venue, including through photomontages taken from various vantage points.
Din l-Art Ħelwa and the Archaeological Society Malta strongly objected to the application, saying the one-storey multi-purpose venue above the iconic Rialto was “in complete contrast with the existing building”, negatively impacting the architectural value of the property.
The Rialto was designed by architect Edwin England Sant Fournier. The architectural importance of the building was recognised by the PA through its Grade 2 scheduling in 2010.
“The proposed intervention will lead to irreparable damage of the property’s built form, failing to respect the building’s Grade 2 listed status and is therefore completely unacceptable,” they said in their objection.