Historic chapel’s new lease of life
Hamilton’s historic convent is gone but the chapel that was attached to it has been given a new lease of life.
A crowd of around 110 filled St Mary’s Chapel on Friday afternoon, as it was reopened after earthquake strengthening.
The $1m project also involved disconnecting the chapel from the now-demolished Euphrasie House, and restoration of the convent’s Our Lady of Clyde Street statue.
The trust behind the project has already raised and committed $960,000, and needs $80,000 for work around the exterior of the chapel.
‘‘Whether you want to be married, sent to God or have a baptism, this place is now open for business,’’ St Mary’s Convent Chapel Trust chair Tony Egan told the opening-day crowd.
‘‘The secret of our success on this project is for you to come in to this chapel today and think it looks just like it used to look, even better.’’
The total budget for the project is $1.04m and included strengthening the building to 100 per cent of the new build standard.
Many people - from individuals to trusts - had put money into the project, Egan said, including a former Sacred Heart student now in her 90s who sent $100.
‘‘That to me sums up the giving that has gone into this chapel.’’
When Egan was first approached about the project he was told: ‘‘It’s just a chapel that needs a bit of a touch-up’’.
More information came to light as they progressed, he said.
‘‘By the way, it does need to be brought up to the building code. And by the way there is a court case. And by the way, Euphrasie House needs to come down and might fall on it... By the way, we have no money.’’
The trust members started to pray because they couldn’t think of anything else to do, he said.
The pieces came together as they got good advice, approached Hamilton City Council, learned more about the chapel’s history, and trustee Bob Peacocke took over management of the restoration project.
A few small projects remain to be completed, including external floodlighting, siteworks and landscaping.
Bricks from the former convent wall will be turned into a memorial archway near the chapel entrance. The chapel has heard the prayers of many through the years, Roman Catholic Bishop of Hamilton Steve Lowe said.
That included the Catholic sisters from the convent and boarders from Sacred Heart College.
‘‘I hope this place will be a beautiful place of contemplation, a place to step aside from the busyness of the city.’’
The chapel holds many memories for Sister Carmel Cole and her fellow RNDM Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions.
About 15 sisters sang Glory Be at the opening ceremony and Cole, the province leader, spoke about how sisters had been in the areas since 1884.
The chapel was built in the 1920s, she said, and was where those in the convent spent many hours of prayer, and where sisters in the northern province made their final vows.
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