Dislodged block at Pietà old Customs verandah removed

Lisa Gwen Baldacchino

The Pietà boathouse - which originally was a Customs verandah - after a masonry block which was suspended in mid-air on scaffolding on Thursday (right) was removed yesterday. Photo: Jason Borg.

The dislodged block which lay suspended on scaffolding at the old Customs verandah in Pieta on Thursday was removed yesterday, a day after a story highlighting the danger appeared in The Times.

The block posed a danger to boatmen who use a slipway almost underneath it.

During a site meeting it was decided that the block - a corner corbel made of concrete - would be removed, together with the other three corner corbels that still formed part of the building.

Architect Kurt Camilleri Burlo on behalf of the Pieta Marina Catering Ltd, architect Nyle Xuereb from Agius Stoneworks, together with an official from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority were involved in the decision to remove the corbels.

These concrete elements were not part of the original architectural fabric of the structure, said John Debono on behalf of the Pietà Marina Catering Ltd - the company that won the contract for the restoration of the dilapidated boathouse to turn it into a restaurant.

The corrugated roof of the verandah was taken away as part of the rehabilitation project. Asked why the corbels were not removed earlier once they were not part of the original architectural fabric, Mr Debono said the work is done in various phases and the phase of the removal of the corbels had not been reached.

The dislodged concrete block lay suspended for just over 24 hours, Mr Debono said.

Comments

Nyal Xuereb (on 23/8/08)

I would like to make some clarifications regarding this news item. My name is Nyal Xuereb and I am the Project Manager for Agius Stone works, not the Architect, as errenously printed. ASW is the company involved in the restorationof the Pieta Boat House. The operation to remove the disloged concrete corbel and the other 3 corbels at each corner of the structure was supervised by Rosario Agius, director of Agius Stone Works Ltd, not by myself. I simply coordinated the emergency works to be able to happen immediatley.

Franco Farrugia (on 23/8/08)

Well done on the swift action taken!