Macau Military Club, Portuguese colonial building in Sé, Macau, China
The Macau Military Club is a single-storey neoclassical building on Avenida da Praia Grande, between Praia Grande Park and the Fortaleza da Barra. Its pink facade with white Tuscan columns, balustraded verandas and a curved pediment inscribed "1870" and "Clube Militar" is the only part preserved from the 1870 original; the 1994–95 reconstruction kept this front and added a basement.
The Grémio Militar, founded on 20 April 1870 by Captain Manuel Azevedo Coutinho with Lieutenant Henrique Augusto Dias de Carvalho as his assistant, built the clubhouse that was completed in June 1870. In 1941 the government requisitioned it to house refugees from Japanese-occupied Hong Kong; from 1945 it served as the Finance Department office until 1951. Renamed Clube Militar in 1953, it opened membership to civilians.
The club's name changed from Grémio Militar to Clube Militar in 1953, the year civilians were first admitted as members. Historian Manuel Teixeira divided its members into two generations: the founders, who put education before entertainment, and the post-1950 members, who reversed that order and favoured sports and celebrations. About 700 members belong today, most of them non-Portuguese.
The club stands on Avenida da Praia Grande between Praça de Nam Van and the Fortaleza da Barra, in the Sé district. Its ground floor holds a Portuguese restaurant, bar, function rooms, card room and reading room, with exhibitions held at irregular intervals. The 1994–95 rebuilding kept only the street facade, so the pink-and-white front with its Tuscan colonnade is the original element to look for.
The 1994-95 reconstruction by architects A. Bruno Soares and Irene Ó added a basement level with exhibition and games rooms, and kept only the street facade of the 1870 building, along with its original chandeliers and stone balustrade. The facade bears the year 1870 and the name Clube Militar.
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