Updated 6.50pm with Infrastructure Malta denial that its works had damaged chapel -

Infrastructure Malta is repairing damage on an Attard chapel caused by its own work, Claire Bonello, the lawyer representing the appellants of the Central Link project is claiming.

The claim was denied by the government agency.

“The chapel has not been left desolate and abandoned. Residents have been undertaking restoration work and monitoring studies for years and voiced their concern that the structure could be damaged when the project got underway,” Bonello told Times of Malta. 

Earlier on Thursday, IM said in a statement that it had kicked off structural restoration of the 1729 St Paul’s Chapel in Attard, to reinforce its walls and stop damages caused by years of subsidence.  

The agency said that structural monitoring and other technical studies conducted in 2015 revealed that cracks that had appeared along this chapel’s walls in previous years were caused by their gradual continuous subsidence.

“These studies identified several structural interventions to save this building from further deterioration. However, the required works were never carried out.”

It added that the “long-awaited consolidation works” followed discussions with the volunteers who take care of this chapel and the Attard local council.

IM said that in recent weeks, specialised contractors started reinforcing the chapel with over 100 steel rock bolts and carbon fibre rods, which are inserted in very narrow holes drilled into its walls and affixed using appropriate non-shrink grouts and epoxies.

However, Bonello said that residents had flagged "the widening of cracks" in the chapel's walls in February.

The vibrations caused by the heavy machinery used for the project had exacerbated existing cracks to an extent that they were now risking damage to the chapel’s structure, residents had claimed back then.

Bonello added that during the Central Link appeal, residents had filed detailed reports on how the chapel had been restored throughout the years. 

“We had warned about the impact that IM works could have on the chapel, and sure enough, the cracks got worse. One of the conditions in the project’s permit was to safeguard the chapel,” Bonello added.

In its statement, IM said that through ongoing cooperation with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, the agency’s architects had introduced “minor alternations” and shifted some of the new pedestrian facilities away from the chapel and an adjacent old farmhouse.

The farmhouse was previously going to be dismantled and rebuilt in a nearby location but will now be retained in its original location, IM said.

The agency in a separate statement later insisted that its works on the Central Lik had not damaged the chapel. 

“Infrastructure Malta refutes allegations that any works related to the Central Link Project caused any damages to the St Paul’s Chapel, or exacerbated existing ones. In fact, to ensure that such damage does not occur, and following consultations with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, Infrastructure Malta has shifted the location of some of the new pedestrian facilities being introduced in this area as part of the project, so that works and any resulting vibrations in proximity to the chapel and another nearby old farmhouse building will be minimised," the agency said.

It said photos of the chapel before the Central Link Project works started showed that the subsidence cracks along its walls existed long before works started. 

Photo: Infrastructure Malta

Restoration work list presented during Central Link appeal 

February 2004: Photos and footage were shot detailing the chapel’s indoors and outdoors, followed by a report of the findings.

April 2005: Architect Shirley Cefai drew up a report detailing conservation plans. An application was submitted to the planning authority in April and a permit was issued in June. 

The cost of the restoration totalled €11,590, and was collected through donations, fundraising events, VAT lottery winnings and local council aid. Some of the work was carried out by volunteers.

August 2009: Residents flagged the need of urgent works on part of the ceiling (deffun tas-saqaf), and restoration was eventually carried out.

2010: €3,500 worth of cleaning and restoration work was carried out on part of the altarpiece (iskannell tal-altar) with the help of local council funds. 

2015: 'Tell Tales' equipment, costing €650, was installed with the help of local council funds to monitor cracks that appeared on the chapel walls. It transpired that there was continuous movement and the structure of the chapel needed to be consolidated.

This article has been updated with new information about the restoration.