ST MARY'S CONCORD 1845 - 2008

St Mary’s Parish Concord
The people of St Mary’s Parish have gathered on this site on Parramatta Road Concord since 1845. The buildings that we use for our parish and school are here today because many generations before us have supported the parish. The present church was completed in 1929 and is the third church on the site. The first church was built near Parramatta Road in 1845. It was replaced in 1874 by the second church built facing Broughton Street. The convent for the Sisters of Charity was built in 1898 .

St Mary’s School had started in the original church building until the first school building was opened by Cardinal Moran in 1894. It was located near the present kindergarten. After the second church opened in 1874, the original church continued to be used as a school and hall until it was demolished in 1917 to make way for a new hall with classrooms above it.

The second church was extended in 1890 as the community grew. When the present church was opened in 1929, the 1874 church which had been in use for 55 years, continued to be used by the community until it too was demolished in 1956 to allow a new Girls’ Intermediate School to be built. Part of that 1956 school building was later used as the school office and staff room and currently continues to be used by Years 5 and 6. The old school offices are now parish meeting rooms.

Over the years other buildings were added. In 1940 a new kindergarten was built facing Burton Street (now the school administration area). Four new classrooms were added to it in 1980 as a first floor extension. In 1963 the cottage at 2 Ada Street was purchased by the parish for additional classrooms. Some years later it was demolished and a garden area created. The present kindergarten block was built in 1972 and that same year the 1917 hall and classrooms were destroyed by a fire and had to be rebuilt.

The Past Fifteen Years: Parish Site 1993-2008
During 1993-1994 the focus of the parish community was the restoration of St Mary’s Church following the January 1993 fire that destroyed the roof and badly damaged the interior of the church. Later that year the cottage at 4 Ada Street came on the market and the parish was able to purchase it. Soon afterwards the cottage at 6 Ada Street was also purchased. Early in 1994 it was apparent that the presbytery could no longer serve both as the residence for the three priests who were then living there and as a parish office, so the decision was taken to relocate the Parish Office to the cottage at 4 Ada Street .

Master Plan for the Parish Site
It was also apparent that a Master Plan was needed to guide future developments on the parish site. In May 1994 a Parish Site Committee was established to co-ordinate parish and school projects and to prepare a master plan.

A consultant was commissioned to prepare an accurate site plan. A master planning process was adopted and in May 1995 a Draft Site Master Plan was produced which included some proposals for the possible future rationalization of existing parish and school buildings.

A key feature of the Master Plan was the designation of a School Precinct on the western side of the church and a Church and Parish Precinct on the eastern side of the church. No further action was taken at that time.

St Mary’s School 1996-2006
The Site Committee reconvened in September 1996 to review the needs of St Mary’s School in the light of the Review and Development process undertaken by St Mary’s School during 1996. A consensus emerged that the next major development phase for the parish site should address the needs of the school.

St Mary’s School Project
The master plan proposed creating a school precinct on the western side of the church and a church and parish precinct on the eastern side. The principle guiding that proposal was the consolidation of the school buildings to allow better access and security for the children. The plan also allowed for the future redevelopment of the parish precinct.

The needs of the school were presented to the Parish Pastoral Council in September 1997 and it was resolved that a committee be established to develop a plan for the renovation of St Mary’s School. Further research was undertaken to assess the viability of the site and its potential to meet the future needs of the school.

A parish meeting in July 1998 gave clear support for a major refurbishment project for St Mary’s School and an Educational Brief was prepared. In December 1998 Quinn-O’Hanlon Architects were commission to prepare a concept plan and during 1999 the concept plan was further refined.

To allow the school to continue to operate, the project was undertaken in two stages beginning at the end of the 1999 school year. Stage 1 was completed in 2000 and stage 2 by the end of 2001. The School Project was completed in January 2002 in time for the beginning of the school year. However one of the proposed new buildings was unable to be built at that time.

School Stage 3
When the costs of the project escalated, the decision was made to postpone the construction of the new classroom block on the western side of the site adjacent to the parish office at 4 Ada Street until funds became available. The final stage of the School Project began in November 2006 and was completed in May 2007.

The Parish Precinct
During 2001, with the school project nearing completion, attention was directed to the presbytery (priest's residence) which still served as the parish priest’s residence. By that time only one priest lived in the residence and it was in need of major repairs. In accord with the Master Plan a decision was taken not to renovate the presbytery but rather to use the cottage at 6 Ada Street as the parish priest’s residence. After renovations were completed the parish priest moved to 6 Ada Street in July 2002.

The move from the presbytery meant that two of the three buildings in the Parish Precinct, the presbytery and the convent were no longer serving their original purpose. The Sisters of Charity had moved from the convent in 1983 and for the past twenty-four years it had been used for other parish purposes. Like the presbytery, the former convent was also in a very poor state of repair. To renovate both buildings could cost more than $1 million and even as renovated buildings they would have limitations for any future parish use. In 2005 a Parish Project Committee was established to explore the possible redevelopment of the eastern precinct.

St Mary’s Villa 1985-2008
In December 1974 St Mary’s Parish purchased a cottage at 38 Burton Street and converted it into a Community Centre for the Aged. Over the next five years adjoining cottages in Burton Street were purchased and in 1984 the houses were demolished to create a site for the construction of St Mary’s Villa Hostel and Nursing Home. St Mary’s Villa was officially opened on 7 July 1985. Since then the parish has been able to purchase the properties at 28 and 30 Burton Street as part of the strategic plan for the future development of St Mary’s Villa.

Changing government regulations and the introduction of the accreditation process have led the Board of St Mary’s Villa to explore various plans for the future expansion and redevelopment of the Villa. In 2003 the Board commissioned an Aged Care Consultant to prepare a plan to enable the Villa to meet the 2008 Government certification requirements.

The relocation of the Parish Priest’s residence in 2002 had also created the potential for the redevelopment of the parish site. This prompted the Villa Board and the Parish Pastoral Council to explore an alternative plan.

The consultant was commissioned to prepare a concept plan that proposed the building of a new residential Aged Care Facility on the parish site. The approval of the Archdiocese of Sydney was needed and finally in November 2004 in principle support was given.

In March 2005 a Parish Project Committee was established to take forward the planning process for the parish site and for St Mary’s Villa. The Project Committee began by reviewing the concept plans in the light of the Sydney Archdiocesan Aged Care Development guidelines. After assessing various other possible uses for the parish site, the Committee arrived at a preferred project that will meet the needs of the parish and those of St Mary’s Villa.

The Aged Care Project
The project has been approved by the Archdiocese of Sydney and in December 2007 development approval was received from the City of Canada Bay. It is hoped that work will commence in early 2008..

 

Paul Crowley
Parish Priest 1993-

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1844	Present parish site acquired for church and school.
1845	June: Archbishop Polding blesses the foundation stone for the first church (the present hall site near Parramatta Road).
1845	7 December: first church opened. Priests came from Parramatta each Sunday.
1854	Concord became part of Petersham (now Lewisham) Parish .
1870	Concord became a Parish. Father Callaghan McCarthy was appointed the first parish priest.
1873	6 July: The foundation stone for the second church was blessed (site now the school building near the Bell Tower).
1874	14 September: second Church was opened and dedicated to Mary, Mother of God.
1880	Sisters of Charity travel from Ashfield to teach at Concord.
1882	1882 The presbytery was built.
1890	7 June: extensions to the second church blessed by Cardinal Moran.
1894	First school building built.
1894	1 November: Fr Callaghan McCarthy died after being injured in a train crash at Redfern.
1898	3 May: Convent opened - built with funds left in the will of Fr McCarthy
1917	First church, which had been converted into a hall when the second church was built, was demolished to make way for a new girls' school (present hall site).
1928	Laying of the foundation stone for the third (present) church by he Apostolic Delegate, Rev. Dr. Cattaneo.
1928	Christmas Day: first Mass in present church celebrated at Midnight.
1929	17 March: Church blessed by Archbishop Michael Kelly, Archbishop of Sydney.
1940	New school building on Burton Street built as kindergarten.
1940	The sanctuary wall of the church was lined in Wombeyan marble.
1956	The second church was demolished to make way for a new Girls' Intermediate School building.
1963	House at 2 Ada Street was purchased for extra classrooms.
1968	1 March: modification to the sanctuary of the church and the installation of an altar facing the people.
1972	3 April: hall and classroom (1917 building) destroyed by fire.
1972	Seven new classrooms built near the hall on the site of the original school building (1894).
1975	23 March: Community Center in Burton Street opened by Bishop Kelly. The site was later developed for St Mary's Villa.
1980	24 February: four new classrooms opened as a first floor addition to the building on Burton Street.
1985	7 July: St Mary's Villa Hostel and Nursing Home blessed and opened.
1993	28 January: fire extensively damaged the roof, ceiling and the interior of the church. Masses were celebrated in the hall.
1994	28 May: 6pm Vigil Mass, the first Mass was celebrated in the church following the fire.
1994	31 July: Dedication of the St Mary's Church within the 9.30 Mass by Cardinal Edward Clancy, Archbishop of Sydney.
1994	Parish office relocated to a house at 4 Ada Street.
2000	Major refurbishment project for St Mary's School.