Euphrasie House

Euphrasie House was a pre-war Spanish Mission style convent in Hamilton East, New Zealand.

Euphrasie House
Alternative namesInstitute des Notre Dame des Missions
General information
Statusmarked for demolition
Architectural styleSpanish Mission (Romanesque influenced)
AddressClyde Street
Town or cityHamilton
CountryNew Zealand
Completed1889 (original building)
1939 (current building)
Design and construction
ArchitectJack Chitty

Only St Mary’s Convent Chapel remains. It was designed in 1926 by Hamilton architect Jack Chitty. In 1930 a marble altar and a pair of angels, with a cluster of electric lights in a crown, were added.[1]

History

The convent opened in 1899, after four nuns in 1884 had arrived in Hamilton to provide the settlers' children with Christian education. It was the first the three-storeyed building in Hamilton. By 1938 however, the original building was declared unsafe and was replaced by the current building which was built in 1939 and officially opened by then Bishop of Auckland, James Michael Liston.[2] The building was a hostel for students of Sacred Heart Girls' College, until closing in 2011. In 2012, a community group protested against a plan to demolish the building and replace it with a modern diocesan centre. Reports claimed that it would be too expensive to earthquake-proof the structure.[3] The building that has housed thousands of school girls for several decades was marked for demolition in 2013.[4] Euphrasie House was ranked as a "category B" building by the Hamilton City Council. In 2017 it was demolished,[5] except for the chapel, heritage listed as Category 2,[6] which was strengthened and restored.[7]

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References
  1. "Built Heritage Inventory Record Form" (PDF). Hamilton City Council.
  2. Heritage Hamilton, Wintec ISBN 1-877406-01-5
  3. Plan to demolish Euphrasie House
  4. Historic building to go
  5. Parents keen to save Sacred Heart hostel
  6. "St Mary's Convent Chapel". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  7. "St Mary's Convent Chapel opening a celebration of giving". Stuff. Retrieved 5 April 2020.


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