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A pub that was previously being eyed up as a potential zone of expansion for the Opera House has been sold by the Liberation Group to a hospitality entrepreneur for £650,000.
Grant Miller — who owns businesses including the Channel Islands' oldest tour operator Preston Holidays — purchased the venue, which is now owned by his Jersey company, 3X Inns.
Mr Miller explained that he has been looking at sites in Jersey for some time now.
He said: "It's great to acquire an iconic venue in such a great position which I hope will be the first of many hospitality venues I acquire in the Channel Islands."
Pictured: Proposed work on the Opera House Ticket Office and Dance Studio.
Mr Millar added: "With the Opera House now being refurbished, I look forward to working with them to revitalise the area and the wider visitor economy for the good of the island."
The Gloster Vaults pub has been involved in recent conversations regarding the refurbishment of the Opera House, with the idea of the theatre's expansion into the neighbouring pub first raised in a £16,000 ‘options appraisal’ for the Opera House by the Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, which authored the 2021 arts strategy.
The options appraisal contained a series of uncosted proposals about the future relationship between the theatre and the government, including installing five resident arts companies, and appointing an Executive Director on a salary of up to £100,000.
Longer-term plans suggest that the area around the theatre could be “re-engineered to elevate the Opera House at the heart of a new culture-led district for St. Helier”. It is suggested that a first step towards this could be to “re-model the neighbouring pub as an active facility within the Opera House”.
However, the latter was not a feature of the proposals for the £11.5m refurbishment of the Opera House released at the beginning of this year.
In January, the Economic Development Minister admitted that it would "make sense" for the Opera House to expand into the neighbouring Gloster Vaults pub as it aims to improve its offering, but confirmed that no moves have been made to purchase it just yet.
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