The Hunter River Times

BY DI SNEDDON

Sacred Spaces will cease weddings, music concerts, tours and events after the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy Australia and Papua New Guinea announced it would cease operations at the Singleton Convent by September 1.

In a statement, the Institute stated that ‘after much deliberation, the level of funding per annum required to subsidise Sacred Spaces to enable the ministry to continue, as well as to maintain the building and site is financially unsustainable now and into the future. The Institute is currently exploring options to enable the long-term future of the convent site.’

Institute executive director David Penny told The Hunter River Times he was in consultation with the Catholic Diocese with St Catherine’s Catholic College interested in the site.

“There are a lot of costs that go along with running of that site which needs to be considered so we are giving them time to go through that,” Mr Penny said.

Should that fall through, Mr Penny said they would be looking at awarding it to a community group that shared the philosophies of the sisters.

“We are not interested in someone who wants to turn it into a hotel, we intend to sell it so that it can continue to be used for Singleton,” he said.

It is not the first site that that the Institute have sold.

A site in Bathurst is now owned by a local community group that offers wellness clinics and continues to hold weddings.

A Perth site has also gone to an adjacent school and offers health, education and social welfare programs.

The Singleton process has seen the Mercy Aged Care site subdivided from the Convent site which has already been approved by Singleton Council but is unlikely to happen before the end of the year.

For now, there is a level of sadness as staff and volunteers come to terms with the announcement.

Showing an equivalent response are the many performers who have graced the chapel over the Sacred Spaces Fine Music Series.

Renowned artists, some international, rank the chapel venue among the top three performance areas of Australia so its loss is a blow to the arts community as much as anyone else.

John Flannery was on the Local Planning Group that, during the past four years, that investigated options for the site.

“Despite exhaustive public consultation and study by the Planning Group and the Institute, a longer-term business partner or tenant has not been found,” Mr Flannery said.

He believes the transfer of the property to the diocese is probably the best option.

He said the pending discussions between the sisters of Mercy and the Bishop may lead to the property being absorbed into the education and parish assets surrounding the site.

“St Catherine’s College is expanding and could use ore office and student space that is abundantly available in the Convent building,” he said.

“The College adjoins the Convent and has extremely strong historic connection to the sisters.  The Sisters cemetery is located within the school precinct.

“St Patrick’s Catholic Parish needs community meeting rooms and has surplus land in Queen Street that is zoned for residential housing.”

Mr Flannery suggested the parish could potentially share some of the Convent with the College for community uses and economically consolidate its services on one site.

He said an important consideration is the historical fact that the Convent of Mercy was overwhelmingly paid for by parishioners and parents of children educated and housed on the Convent site by the Sisters of Mercy from 1875.

“Until 1974 the Convent school was predominantly a boarding school for girls and the fees paid and fundraising conducted for the school ad the Sisters was vey substantially provided by Singleton and Hunter Valley parents and friends.

“The College still services primarily Singleton Shire children and if the Convent is to be transferred or sold to the diocese one would think this should be a consideration in the negotiations.

“Every effort needs to be made to ensure this iconic ad loved community asset is retained as a place where Singleton ad Hunter people can still access and visit its treasured space,” Mr Flannery concluded.