Lights out for iconic nightclub

An icon of Galway’s night life for the last three decades is likely to bite the bust with news that the former Central Park nightclub has been put on the market.

The move to invite offers of interest on Electric Garden and Halo opens up a massive prime city centre location for development, fronting onto Upper Abbeygate street, taking up a half-acre of ground and extending over 43,000 sq ft over three levels.

It also backs onto the An Post site on Eglinton Street which is currently up for sale in a long-term leasehold deal.

Property owner Maurice Gillen declined to comment on the sale of the twin night clubs, which have not reopened since March 11 last year when Covid numbers started to soar at the start of the pandemic here.

But in a statement released after queries from the City Tribune, the group’s former manager, James Finan, lamented the closure after 30 years of defying the odds.

“This place changed with the times and stayed alive despite the tremendous challenges of operating a nightclub in Ireland. We have sustained over 600 days of complete closure, lost revenue, unpaid bills and reopening dates that never materialised.

“We have waited a lifetime for the licensing situation and nightlife economy to evolve to something resembling real viability.”

He said the owner was left with no other option but to put the building on the market.

“We hope that this house will continue as a place for dancing and find a new owner with the same enthusiasm for bringing people together. Even though we may not be the ones to reap the rewards, we hope a brighter future lies ahead for Irish nightclubs.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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