Updated 1.30pm with PL reply

The historic and Grade 2 scheduled Rialto theatre in Cospicua could be restored with an additional floor, new cinema and theatre, and interlinked with a boutique hotel. 

An application (PA/03203/23) filed with the Planning Authority proposes to restore the historic theatre and cinema building to introduce another new theatre, restaurant and bar. 

The plans also include an additional floor, vaguely described as a “multi-purpose” venue at roof level, which will be interlinked with a social club and a restaurant. The theatre will also be interlinked with a boutique hotel. 

Plans for Rialto Cinema- including an additional floor which will cater a "multi-purposed" venue at the roof level. Photo: Planning Authority

The application is currently at the initial vetting stage and has yet to be assessed by a PA case officer.

Overlooking the Cospicua waterfront, 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. 

The application was submitted by Rialto Operations Ltd, which won a call for expression of interest for the lease of the building, according to MaltaToday.

The proposal would incorporate various structures in Cospicua, wrapping around three streets. Scroll right to see more photos. Photos: PA

Photo: PA 03203/23

Photo: PA 03203/23

Photo: PA 03203/23

Photo: PA 03203/23

Rialto Operations is owned by construction company GP Borg Holdings, the same company which filed an application to restore a 16th-century palazzo in Valletta, -associated with artists Mattia Preti - to demolish a number of surrounding properties to create a five-star boutique hotel. That application was strongly opposed by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.

Rialto Operations was set up in 2021, with Conrad Borg and Diane Buttigieg as its registered directors.

A Labour Party spokesperson told Times of Malta that its 2021 expression of interest call for the site was "guided by the principles that the property’s original use as a cultural hub should be retained, and that the party should receive the best value for its property."

It said it expected to release further details about the project "soon". 

The Rialto Cinema opened in 1956, has a unique Art Modern façade and back then was a major focal point of social life for Cospicua and the Three Cities. The cinema closed in 1988, no longer able to sustain itself due to the worldwide trend of drastically dwindling cinema audiences.