After spending several solid hours across several days working on the design of the pub in 2020, Michael, Charlie and Bob and Paul (and their partners) agreed a basic design for the Pub which had to incorporate the surviving wall, doors and windows along the front of the building. As the façade of the building (as burnt and broken as it was) had been put under a Local Heritage Listing by the Council, the rebuild had to retain the front of the building in any new building works. This was a challenging proposition as the wall was unsupported and there was also an issue with rising damp affecting the mortar in the brickwork along the front. The parapet section of the front wall was also damaged as the side walls of the pub had been demolished as part of the fire clean up previously. Noel Burton, Detail Survey, Bungendore, Michael’s long time surveyor friend, came over from Canberra to assist Michael with the set out for the building over a number of days.

In order to set up and pour the slab for the building, the engineer for the job, Adam Walker from ACE Engineering, Williamtown , NSW designed an 800mm deep footing to be dug under the front wall so that the slab could support and run up to that footing. Additionally, 6 metre steel H beams were used to vertically support the previously existing brickwork – 2m below and 4m above ground. The quality welding work for the H beams was carried out by Chris Hallowell from Deniliquin . Plumbers Alan Hardcastle from Conargo and Tony Danckert from Deniliquin had laid and backfilled all the under-slab plumbing and by mid-June, 2021 the slab preparation was finished and Jake Stevens from Stevens Contracting, Echuca/Moama and his crew poured the slab. It was a memorable day, both for the excellent organisation of the slab pour and quality of the finishing works, but also as a sign that the pub rebuild was making headway.

With the roof framing in place, the electrical crew, TA Maher Electrical from Deniliquin , could start the cabling works for lights, fans, power points, air-conditioning, audio-visual gear and the cold rooms. They additionally installed 2 separate power boards one for the kitchen and one for the bar which has made it easy to isolate a problem power point or switch without losing all the power.

Once the electrical crew were finished, the roofer Billy Danckert and crew from Deniliquin , started putting the Colourbond sheets on. This in itself was a big job, not only due to the size of the roof, but as the valleys and guttering were designed to catch as much rain as possible for re-use by the pub, there were a few more challenges for the roofing crew. The finished roofing job is a credit to them.

The interior painting was all done by Harry Dickings and by Michael . Harry had come down from Northern NSW to work as a labourer with Mick, to help some of the tradies and to get an idea about potentially becoming an apprentice in one or other of the trades when he went back home. Harry has since started a plumbing apprenticeship and is enjoying using skills that he developed working with Mick in that role.

The floor coverings were supplied and laid by Rochelle and Darren Sharp, Flooring Xtra, Finley. Darren, one of the owners, was amazing, working long hours into the night to finish laying the vinyl floors and the carpets, and to finish the work just before we opened. He largely did all the laying work on his own and it is a credit to him.