Bem-vindo! Portuguese cultural and sports hub to open in former nightclub

Wednesday 21 August 2024

A former nightclub on Beresford Street is set to be transformed into a thriving Portuguese cultural hub – featuring “down-to-earth" food, dancing, sport, music, language lessons and more – within the next month.

Gilberto Franco, Managing Director of Hampton Estates and a key figure of the island’s Portuguese community, has big dreams for the site formerly home to ROJO, a club which closed last month after nearly two decades of entertaining islanders.

Mr Franco and co-funder Duarte Fernandes of Sonnic Support Solutions have purchased the property out of their own pockets.

With the help of other Portuguese islanders and perhaps even the Government, they intend to realise a long-held ambition to establish a 'Centro Culturale Desportivo Portugues' [Portuguese Cultural and Sports Centre], or the CCDP Jersey.

Pictured: Mr Franco is the mastermind behind the CCDP Jersey, which will open in the former ROJO site.

Mr Franco, who is from Funchal and moved to the island 54 years ago as a 23-year-old, showed Express around the site...

Renovations are already underway to freshen up coats of paint and brighten the space, which he hopes can open within a month.

"I felt a central hub was missing"

Mr Franco said that the ground floor will offer food, drink, and televisions that will show Portuguese channels and football matches – and there will be dancing and occasional music and guitar performances.

A more multi-functional space upstairs will host sports – snooker and football – teams, and Mr Franco said there are teachers interested in using it to give lessons in the Portuguese language during quieter afternoon periods.

Another Portuguese islander who runs kickboxing classes for young people is also interested in using the space, he added.

Pictured: Renovations are already underway to transform the upstairs and brighten the former club dance floor.

"I felt a central hub was missing," Mr Franco told Express. "For years we have felt the community needed somewhere decent to promote the gastronomy, the dances, the culture.

"It has been very difficult to find a suitable premises, but this site came up and I was mad enough to say 'let's go for it', which is a headache, because it needs a lot changing to make it suitable for us."

"I want it to be family-friendly"

Mr Franco added: "There used to be a club [for Portuguese islanders], but it was very rough, so I want to have a free members card, so that if they do not behave then their card will be taken away. I want it to be family-friendly."

He said the space would be a way for people to connect with their Portuguese roots and keep their heritage alive.

Pictured: Mr Franco explained that the CCDP Jersey logo has flags of all countries, including Jersey, where Portuguese is spoken.

He added: "We also want to promote sports, and invite all the football teams, snooker teams, all sports, to become part of the CCDP.

"Most important is I want to bring families together, especially the younger generation of Portuguese islanders.

"We also have a nice group of young ladies who play football, and I want them to use the premises for talking about and watching sport as much as the young men who play sport."

He explained that it is essential that enjoying the space is affordable, saying: "I want to have some quality Portuguese food there, so that people can come and have a reasonably priced meal.

"It is forbidden these days to go to a restaurant because the prices are so mad, so my intention is to create homemade, down-to-earth food that people can have without having to obtain a mortgage to pay for the bill."

His children, both of whom are teachers in the UK, are coming over to the island help bring his ideas to life.

"Without the support of everybody, I cannot do it"

But he needs other help too, and is appealing to the Portuguese community, especially its affluent members, to contribute to the renovations and the huge effort it will take to open the CCDP.

"Without the support of everybody, I cannot do it," he said, saying some of the more unique items will need to be ordered from Portugal.

He added that there were also plans to apply for government funding and to make contact with the Constable of St Helier, Simon Crowcroft, and Deputy Carina Alves, the island's first ever politician of Portuguese descent.

Pictured: The space will take some work to transform, but Mr Franco is confident that with the help of the community, it can be done.

"I want to leave a legacy, I want to leave something for people to remember me by, which is having co-funded the premises," he said.

"It's a mad thing, and very difficult to achieve, but we will get there, and I have never shied away from responsibility. I've made so many mistakes in my life, but I keep going, so this is just another adventure."

Islanders who wish to contribute to the CCDP are encouraged to contact Mr Franco at francopropertiesjersey@gmail.com.