New Girls' College And Convent For City

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29802, 19 April 1962, Page 14

New Girls' College And Convent For City

This drawing by the architects (Messrs Collins and Son) shows how Cottesmore, a new Roman Catholic convent and girls’ college in Christchurch, will appear early next year. The contract, signed yesterday with the Fletcher Construction Company, provides for very fast building to have both blocks readyin February.

The site is seven acres in Greers road, between the Church of Christ the King and Jellie Park, and opposite the entrance to the Burnside High School.

The project is being sponsored by the Religious of the Sacred Heart who came to Christchurch in 1959 to staff the Primary School of Christ the King. But even before the sisters arrived, the secondary college for girls was in prospect and applications for admission began to come in. (The order has a very high reputadon for its teaching.) However enrolments will not be settled until later this year. Third form pupils only will be taken at first and the roll will rise to about 300 in the college building oianned. Accommodation may be expanded later and a boarding establishment may be included. The convent (to the right in the picture) facing Greers road will be 122 ft by 34ft with a chapel, refectory, communal rooms, and domestic services on the ground floor and accommodation for 16 sisters on the upper floor. College Provisions The college (to the left) will have on the ground floor, one big classroom; a science laboratory and preparation rooms; and two more big rooms, which miy be used for teaching or combined to serve as a gymnasium and cafeteria; the mistressgeneral’s office; staff room; and other offices. On the upper floor there will be three classrooms and an assembly hall, which will be converted for teaching when a separate hall -s ouilt later. The construction of the convent will be reinforced concrete masonry faced with rose-tinted blocks. The mass of the frontage will be relieved by two big sets of bay windows running the full height of the building The college will have a reinforced concrete frame with rosetinted concrete masonry panels. Roofs will be tiled. Choice of Name The name Cottesmore has been chosen in honour of an English Mother-General of the Religious of the Sacred Heart who visited New Zealand in 1913 and who wrs

born in the English town. The name will also save confusion with the Sacred Heart Girls’ College in Ferry road which is conducted by the Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions. The Society of the Sacred Heart was founded in France in 1800, but the General Mother House is now in Rome. There are now 190 houses (of which Cottesmoi: will be the latest) in 32 countries. Work in Education Education is a major work of the society and it ranges from kindergartens to university colleges. Most of the religious, however, are occupied in secondary schools. Religious of the Sacred Heart first came to New Zealand from America in 1879 to establish a foundation at Timaru where a large boarding and day school was conducted until the depression when boarders were few and nuns were needed at other convents. The Sisters of Mercy have notv re-opened that school. The Society of the Sacred Heart has other houses at Auckland and Wellington.