Residents and NGOs have filed objections with the Planning Authority over plans to develop Cospicua’s historic Rialto Theatre, fearing a “multipurpose venue” planned on the top floor will lead to loud music blaring across the area.
Planning application PA/03203/23 would see the Grade 2 scheduled theatre restored with an additional floor, new cinema and theatre, restaurant and bar. The theatre would also be interlinked with a boutique hotel.
Over the past five weeks, objections to the project have flooded in from residents and environmental NGOs.
Many of the objections focus on the proposed “multipurpose venue” on the planned additional floor, which many fear will lead to loud music echoing across the town core from events such as wedding receptions.
“Given the nature of multipurpose facilities... there is a high likelihood of increased noise levels and amplified sound pollution. This would greatly disrupt the tranquillity of the surrounding residential areas,” said one objector.
In an eight-page objection document shown to Times of Malta, environmental NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) claims the shape and layout of buildings surrounding the Rialto Theatre create an acoustic shape that naturally amplifies volume.
“In essence, the topographical layout of the village core... is already an amphitheatre,” the NGO said in the document.
“A platform in the centre of that emitting music and sound will simply wreak havoc to the peaceful enjoyments of the residents,” they said.
Loud music being played on the top of the building would compound the existing problem of noise in the area, which had been highlighted by an incident in June, the NGO said.
While acknowledging the need for the building’s restoration, Moviment Graffitti also voiced their objections to the planned venue on the top floor.
The proposed venue would “severely disturb” residents of the area, they said.
Opened in 1956, the Rialto Theatre boasts a unique art moderne façade and was a major focal point of social life for Cospicua and the Three Cities in its heyday.
The cinema closed in 1988 in the face of dwindling audience numbers, a trend seen worldwide at the time.
A Senglea hotel's precedent?
Opponents of the project say the venue will exacerbate an existing problem with noise in the area, citing a recent incident in late June which saw a wedding reception at the Cugó Gran Macina Grand Harbour hotel, in Senglea, attract complaints from residents about the volume of music being played.
“The music was ridiculously loud,” said one Cospicua resident who did not wish to be named.
“They just don’t care about the local community,” she said, adding that, on the night of the incident, her 94-year-old neighbour had been forced to close all her doors and windows in an attempt to mitigate the noise.
When contacted, a spokesperson for the hotel said that due to the number of guests – around 600 – the music “had to be loud” and confirmed they were aware of the police receiving two complaints that day.
However, they insisted they had no intention of disrupting their neighbours, stressing they wanted a “good relationship with residents”.
Over the last few years, the venue had “taken measures” to mitigate noise levels, the spokesperson said, adding that the hotel takes the matter “very seriously”.