The old St Joseph’s convent at Bulli will be added to the heritage list following a struggle over the Catholic Church’s plans to redevelop the site.
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The old convent, on Park St and next door to the St Joseph’s church and school, was built in 1903 to accommodate the Sisters of St Joseph, the order established by Australia’s Saint Mary MacKillop.
It was urgently moved towards a heritage listing in November 2015 after a member of the church parish informed Wollongong City Council that plans to knock the convent down were about to swing into action.
St Joseph’s primary school takes pride in its association with Mary MacKillop and the school’s website speaks of her several visits to the convent.
But the heritage application process opened a conflict involving the Diocese of Wollongong, which had planned to demolish the convent to build a new school administration building.
The Catholic Bishop of Wollongong Peter Ingham told the council St Mary “would prefer” the convent were demolished for a new administration building, because she was dedicated to furthering education for young people and the need for more space was “urgent”.
He said the convent was “not a spiritual landmark” and it was not certain whether Mary MacKillop ever visited the convent at all.
The church had the demolition and new construction approved by a private certifier and work was set to start when the parishioner informed the council, which sought and won an urgent protection order.
Since then the council and church have met and the Mercury understands plans have been developed to expand the school buildings without the need to demolish the former convent.
St Joseph’s Parish has now supported the heritage listing, which will also include the adjacent St Joseph’s church, which shares similar heritage values.
The Parish’s submission to council’s planning proposal put on record that “alternative arrangements have been made to accommodate the needs of the school which include retention of the former convent building”.
Council’s heritage advisor wrote in his report: “St Joseph’s Convent in Bulli is of significance for Wollongong for its historic, associative, and aesthetic values, and as a local example of a Federation period purpose-built convent building in this area.
“The St Joseph’s convent is readily identifiable as part of the historic building stock in the area, and makes a contribution to the streetscape.
“The built fabric retains its ability to interpret historical themes, while the integrity of that presents as high when viewed from publicly accessible areas.”