College on a mission to say goodbye
Students and staff at Lower Hutt’s Sacred Heart College will say a fond farewell to the school’s old administration block, known as Mission House.
Demolition on the four-storey block, which was formerly a convent, will begin on Monday.
A seismic assessment conducted earlier this year found the school’s centre block, built in the 1970s, would not perform ‘‘satisfactorily’’ in a severe, locally-based earthquake.
‘‘It holds a lot of fond memories for both staff and students and there will be a real sense of loss once it’s gone,’’ principal Maria Potter said.
Before it was used for administration offices and classrooms, the building functioned as the convent for the Sisters of Our Lady Of The Missions.
Losing the use of Mission House, which was vacated on September 15, had meant a ‘‘struggle’’ towards the end of term, Potter said.
Study for upcoming exams and everyday lessons had to be juggled around.
‘‘Temporary classrooms were set up in the most unlikely places, such as the squash court and in the Performing Arts Centre, including the stage.’’
The school would say goodbye to the building today.
The chapel attached to the building had been decommissioned ahead of the demolition but, luckily, most of it could be saved, Potter said.
The building is owned by Mission Colleges Lower Hutt Trust Board. Chairman Bill Davies said an initial assessment was completed in July.
‘‘But because it was such an important building, we went down the track of getting [the report] reviewed,’’ he said.
The trust considered strengthening the building but decided to demolish it instead, with plans in place to build a new two-storey administration and classroom block on the space.
Contractors plan to have the building pulled down by Christmas and the site cleared by mid-January.
Construction of a new building will likely begin in 2019.
To cope with the loss of teaching space at the college, six relocatable classrooms will be moved onto its grounds for the duration of the 2018 school year.