Tigullio in St Julian’s, in its day one of Malta’s leading nightclubs, will be re-opening its doors in the not-too-distant future. This newsroom paid a visit to the premises this week, and found that work was being carried out on the existing structure, but that no new building had taken place.

This newsroom had received information that possibly unsanctioned work on the site had been underway for the past two months, and that there were plans to re-open the club sometime around November.

When contacted, Kenneth Vella, one of the owners, said that workers had been “cleaning up” the place for the past two months. However, this newsroom saw that refurbishing work was definitely being carried out. On plans to re-open the club, Mr Vella said that a grand re-opening was not envisaged for this winter, but the cleaning work would be finished by then.

Despite the concern of nearby residents that development was afoot, especially since the land in question is ODZ, Mr Vella said that no development beyond the existing structure would take place.

This newsroom contacted Mepa about the status of the Tigullio site and requested the Development Permission Application (DPA) report as well as the case officer’s report. A Mepa spokesman confirmed that the land is indeed an ODZ and also said that development plans had been halted for almost three years, due to pending information from the architect in charge. Since the application had come to a standstill, neither the DPA report nor the case officer’s report was available.

The work described on the Mepa application dated 19 November 2007 is “to relocate the existing entertainment complex by demolition and reconstruction to improve storm water management including the provision of public parking facility and embellishment of nearby created public areas and amenities.” 

After having spoken to Mr Vella, this newsroom has learnt that these development plans may have been scrapped. The application was submitted by land owner Natale Falzon.

The premises currently have a compliance licence, meaning that the property is in compliance with the original permit issued during the club’s initial operations.

Tigullio opened almost 50 years ago and was closed down in the early 1990s. In its heyday, it was one of the most popular discotheques in Malta and one of the largest nightclubs on the island.

It is located in an area that has been known for its clubs, bars and other entertainment venues for years, with Saddles, Tigullio and Lines having flourished in previous years and more recently with the opening of Ryan’s Irish Pub and Giuzeppi’s.