The building which many remember as their childhood McDonald’s outlet is in a sorry, dilapidated state following its closure on 29 November. And as it awaits renovation, it has become an unsafe, vandalized area which, until very recently, was freely accessible to anyone who chose to venture within.

The Malta Independent went on site to look into the degeneration of this once lively building. Apart from broken, rusted structures and profane graffiti clearly visible from the streets on which schoolchildren are still dropped off and picked up from school, we found broken glass on the site where one of the glass panes was attacked with a metal bar, which was also left on the floor, and a discarded syringe in the street right outside.

The doors themselves were locked so the inside of the building was inaccessible, undoubtedly locked after videos and pictures of the inside were uploaded on social media over the past couple of days. The two open doors we did find led to a dangerous abandoned store with a discarded gas cylinder, cigarette butts and other leftovers; as well as a dangerously collapsing rusted structure which TMI was told used to house a generator.

TMI spoke to shop owners surrounding in the vicinity for comments as to whether they have seen any vandalism happening or comments about the state or the building itself and they all shared the same concerns. All spoke of young students, foreign and Maltese, going down to the premises and vandalizing it.

There was also a shared apprehension of the future of the building were all they had to go by were rumours of a new tenants potentially renovating the place, but they were left with nothing but rumours. One went so far as to say that “it will turn into a place for junkies until someone gets hurt or killed.”

One of the owners told us that he witnessed acts of vandalism between 5pm – 7pm Tuesday evening. When he called the police to report the incident, they kept asking for his identity. When he refused to give his identity, the police never showed up. Bear in mind, the nearest police station is roughly a 10 minute walk away from the building.

During the investigation, the new Italian tenants showed up and asked us who we were and what we were doing. We were told that we couldn’t enter the building as it was private property and the tenants refused to tell us their names or give us any means of contacting them. We were told, however, that the whole area is going to be closed off to the public until it is renovated and security cameras will be re-installed.

We were told by the new tenants that we would be contacted when new security measures would be installed but until the time of writing, we have received no information.

TMI also spoke to the previous owners, Hili Ventures, about when the ownership was given up. General Manager of McDonald's Malta, Lee Warren replied that "The lease on the property which used to house the McDonald’s restaurant in Bugibba expired on December 31, 2015, when the keys were returned to the property’s owners. Premier Restaurants Malta, the operator of McDonald’s restaurants in Malta, has had no access to the property since. A new McDonald’s restaurant will open on Bugibba’s main square later this year.”

Photos James Bianchi