 Subsequent owners were Carmelo Arpa, a chemist (1889) and the Gollcher family (1906-7).The theatre had fallen into disuse in 1866, as a result of the construction of Malta's new Royal Opera House, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, on Strada Reale, at the entrance to Valletta.The theatre began to serve as a doss house for homeless and indigent citizens, who rented out the stalls for a few pennies a night.