Last Update August 2006

The New Club

The building process in the year 2003 by Martin Formosa

 After the Christmas activities were over,  work resumed thereby making sure that the roof pre-stressed concrete  slabs could be placed in position as soon as possible. Martin Formosa,  Felic Zerafa and the Aquilina twins, worked on the forming of the denticles  for the second part of the hall entablature using a router. This operation  started on January 5th/03, when nine blocks were completed. The finished  blocks were lifted using a block and tackle and were laid in position by  Joe Zerafa and Felic Zerafa. There were 92 of these blocks to be made.
   Work on the hall entablature was completed on January 3rd/03 - one more step toward the realisation of the completion of this palace.

Joe Zerafa working on the tryglifs

 Joe Spiteri took charge of erecting all the concrete shuttering for the concrete beams around the stairs. The steel reinforcing arrived and was lifted into position by a crane. The insole concrete shuttering was erected on the roof around the periphery of the building on which the concrete slabs were to ultimately rest. Additional stone blocks were laid so as to complete the facade. February 8th finally arrived - on the morning of this day, and with the aid of a longer-jib crane, all the concrete pertaining to the steel-reinforced beams and the insoles were poured. This work was accomplished relatively quickly thanks to a large number of club members, too numerous to mention each one individually. Some tools were borrowed from club members with the aim of reducing the expenses involved.

Stairs set for concrete 

 After completing that part of the architrave on  the side closer to the church, work resumed on the architrave blocks that rest directly on the columns These blocks are rather larger than the rest.
  On February 19th, the two triglyphs blocks which rest directly on the two end columns were laid in position.

 Since the curved stairwell wall, for technical reasons, could not be built higher before the actual construction of the stairs themselves it was decided to start on the design and layout of same. The development of the stairs was laid out on the floor and on February 23rd, Hank Catania and Martin Formosa had finished the actual marking of the position of each step (or stair) on the site. The mortising of each step into the stairwell wall was done by Twanny Callus and Mikiel Aquilina.

Putting great blocks on columns with crane

Italian workers refining the columns

 On February 28th, Joe Spiteri and Carmel Magro dismantled existing scaffolding in the stairwell to make room for the stair shuttering. A quantity of wood and other scantlings had to be purchased for this purpose.
   The shuttering for the stairs was started on March  6th, One has to point out that this type of work is rather difficult and above all dangerous. In this case, the people involved had to work at heights of up to three storeys. However, the risk to the workers was kept down to a minimum by the erection of scaffolding and the placing of planks at various heights along the slope of the stairs.

   On March 29th, a number of trailer-trucks loaded with the roofslabs approached the site. These slabs; intended  for the roofing of the chapel, main hall and committee room, were paid  for by the Spiteri Family thereby fulfilling the wish of Joseph Spiteri (Iz-Zij) to help in a very meaningful way in the building of the new club premises of the Society closest to his heart. The work started at 7.45am and everything went according to plan. The whole process seems to have had a profound effect on those taking part since it moved their realisation of this project a step closer to its fruition.Joe Spiteri, Carmel Magro and Joe Ellul  resumed work on the stair shuttering while Joe Zerafa and Mikiel Aquilina erected wooden guards in connection with the topping up to concrete  above the roof slabs.
   More work was done on the large blocks for the  architrave that sit directly above the columns.
  On April 27th, the Italian workers arrived.  They worked on the cleaning upof the marble columns and zoccolo. This  work lasted throughout the whole day. Martin Formosa, Mikiel Aquilina,  Marlon Aquilina and Johnny Spiteri erected temporary scaffolding for this purpose. All this work was done to the complete satisfaction of the designer and the Society's central committee.
  On May 19th, a group of club members under the direction of Nikol Abdilla and Salvu Magro removed a substantial amount of building material that had accumulated on the ground floor level. This material was taken away in skips. On the same day, Hank Catania and Martin Formosa estimated and measured the amount of steel-reinforcing  required for the roof and stairs.

  More work was done by Joe Spiteri, Carmel Magro, Joe Ellul and others on the shuttering of the roof periphery  and curved stairwell.
   On Sunday, May 25th, Mikiel Aquilina, Martin Formosa  and Marlon Aquilina resumed work on shoring up the stair shuttering  and the placing of concrete guards on the front of the building.
   On May 27th, the steel reinforcing of the stairs  and steel netting for the roof had been delivered. During the day, Peter  Caruana, Joe Spiteri, Carmel Magro, Joe Ellul, and Joseph Farrugia worked incessantly and almost completed all the erection of the guards necessary  for the topping-up for concrete on top of roof slabs. At 6.00pm, the crane  operated by Mario Bondin lifted the steel netting onto the roof and at 8.00pm the process of bending and shaping of the steel rods began - this process enabled the netting to be installed into the stairs which was essentially of helical form.
   The steel reinforcing of the stairs was completed on Sunday, June 1st. On Tuesday, June 3rd, the rungs of the stairs, borrowed from Peter Caruana and Joseph Falzon, were placed in position.
   On Thursday, June 5th, architect Anton Zammit paid us a visit in order to inspect all the steel reinforcing work done on the stairs. The reinforcing in connection with the flag-pole concrete blocks was also prepared. At 8.00pm, all was complete and ready for the pouring of concrete, the next day.
   In fact on Friday, June 6th, with the aid of a  longer-jib crane, the pouring of concrete of the stairs began. Many  were those who attended for this operation helping out wherever necessary with zeal and dedication. The fact that this was a weekday did not really  deter these men from giving their share to the cause of the Society's  greatest dream.
  On Saturday and Sunday, June 7th and 8th, the wooden guards on the stairs and roof periphery were removed, cleaned and put away.
  Joe Zerafa completed the last four blocks involving  triglyphs that sit on top of the columns. Preparations were also made  to have these blocks lifted onto the roof.
  At 5.00pm, June 11th, the crane of Mario Bondin lifted these triglyph blocks onto the roof. The four larger blocks were put in position sitting directly above each column.
  Those who attended worked untiringly throughout to lift a number of larger blocks from the first storey roof to the roof above. This was  done using the opening, left uncovered, in the chapel roof. Stephen's  winch was also lifted onto the roof above. This winch is utilized most  effectively in reducing the hard manual lifting involved in the building trade.
 In the week following Joe Zerafa with the help of other volunteers  put in place the trygliph blocks over the Doric columns. These were lifted with the apparatus known as Stephen's lifter. Now the time has arrived to commence work on the last part of the Doric entablature. This is the ornated cornice mutiles containing 28 circles engraved with over every triglyph and with a rosette on every metope.

The Architect Mr. Centorrino & Treasurer Mr. Felix Zerafa observing the Gocciole Stones for the Top Border of the Club

In fact on Sunday 15th, June, Martin Formosa worked  out the first slab under the supervision of Innocent Centorrino who  prepared the detailed drawings.
  In between, Joe Spiteri, Carmel Magro and others removed the shutter from under the stairs and this was cleaned and put away.
 Peter Caruana and his group continued laying the inner walls of the back rooms and these were brought to the level of the beam, which supports the roof.

On 12th October 2003, work was initiated on the Doric entablature. This work is more complicated and the degree of finesse in it is higher than that of the Tuscan type. The people who carried out this work were Martin Formosa and Anthony and Marlon Aquilina and John Spiteri. The first stone to be formed was that of the south corner of the secondary facade.

On Sunday, October 19, steel beams were placed in position using the Stiefnu Zerafa winch. Additional work on the entablature was carried out.

The following week, Joe Spiteri erected the shuttering of the concrete beams which were later to be poured on November 16.

Up to Sunday, October 26, three stone blocks of the entablature were completed and which were later to form part of the secondary facade. Mikiel Aquilina worked on the steel reinforcing of the window openings.

 By using a 60 ton crane with a capacity of 60 tons, the concrete beams were poured together with the insoles which will ultimately have to support the pre-stressed concrete planks of the roof. This work started at 3.00p.m. and involved the use of some seven cubic meters of C30 concrete mixture. The design and other details of the marble floor of the Edward and Henrietta St. George Hall were discussed at one of the meetings of the Central Committee. It was decided that this project was to be entrusted to Innocent Centorrino, our most capable Architectural Designer.

On November 8, Joe Spiteri worked on the dismantling of the concrete shuttering. The following day, Sunday, Twanny Callus cut the bezel into the wall and which will later support the concrete stairs leading to the roof. Mikiel Aquilina resumed work on the dismantling of the concrete shuttering and refined the bezel of the stairs. More work was carried out on the entablature.

On November 10, Salvu Magro did more work on the bezel of the stairs and, on the following day, Tuesday, the fifth entablature stone block was completed.

On November 17, Joe Spiteri, with the help of Karmnu Magro, Joseph Ellul, Joe Ellul and Karmenu Borg, started to erect the concrete shuttering for the stairs. This work was completed on November 28.

On November 29, more blocks were delivered to the site from the stone quarry. The lifting of these blocks onto the roof of the building was somehow hampered by inclement weather.

On Sunday, November 30, a group of volunteers took it upon themselves to collect all the debris and other unwanted material from the site. Anglu Ellul, Mario Mifsud, Mikiel Aquilina, Grezzju Farrugia and Karmenu Borg loaded a couple of trucks with this debris using a wheel-barrow. The work on the entablature resumed and the ninth block was now completed. Joe Spiteri worked on the erection of the concrete shuttering of the toilets.

On December 2, the reinforced concrete planks were placed in position on the intermediate floor while more work resumed on the sculpturing of various stone blocks - these blocks were later lifted onto the roof by a crane ready to be laid in position on top of the secondary facade.

On Friday, December 12, there was planned the pouring of concrete of the two flights of stairs, the layer above the roof planks and the toilet roofs. In spite of inclement weather, the work was carried out as planned - the people involved in this operation were issued with plastic raincoats. In addition to the pouring of concrete, a truck load of stone blocks and a consignment of concrete bricks were lifted onto the roof by a crane. Karmnu Magro, Felic Zerafa, Nikol Abdilla, Manwel Magro, Martin Formosa, Joseph Farrugia, Baskal Ellul, Joe Spiteri, Salvu Bugeja, Frans Zerafa, Joseph Ellul, Joe Zerafa, and Karmenu Borg worked hard and with great determination under difficult conditions of weather. It would be proper here to thank all those friends, especially Peter Caruana and Joseph Falzon, who loaned us all those tools and equipment that we needed and which facilitated the work involved considerably.

The following day, Saturday, Karmenu Caruana started on the laying of bricks - his efforts were halted however by bad weather conditions.

On Saturday, December 14, Karmenu Caruana together with a group of helpers resumed work on the uppermost room. In the meantime, the concrete shuttering was being dismantled. The sculpturing, which was kept on going without interruption, had now reached the fifteenth block. During the days close to Christmas, work was slowed down somewhat and this was due to the other activities organized by the Society. In spite of this, a truck load of bricks was delivered and lifted onto the roof together with a large quantity of sand and crushed stone. The bricks were used for the supporting walls while the other material was used for making and completed various stone blocks for the entablature - these blocks will ultimately rest on the upper six Doric columns.

We thank all the voluntary workers mentioned above and more. Because of them not a cent was spent on working hours.