A historic piece of Sydney Catholic history has returned to the church after 140 years, with the Blackfriars site at Broadway once again under Catholic ownership.
The University of Notre Dame Australia has purchased the historic, formerly Dominican, property adjoining St Benedict’s Broadway with a view to it becoming a Sydney Catholic Early Childhood Services (SCECS) centre to create a future-focused education precinct.
Currently, the site houses tertiary facilities and an early childhood centre owned and operated by the University of Technology Sydney.
UNDA Chancellor Christopher Ellison said he was thrilled to acquire the property to see the University’s Sydney Campus continue to grow.
“By investing in the historic Blackfriars site, we can continue to grow the Sydney campus adjacent to St Benedict’s and with it, tertiary offerings at UNDA Sydney into the future. This will leave a legacy for generations of students to come,” Mr Ellison said.
SCECS CEO Franceyn O’Connor was pleased to be involved in the vision for the site, and with the opportunity to continue serving the local community.
“The current children’s service is a thriving community hub for families living and working in the city. SCECS looks forward to joining and enriching this community, working beside UNDA in providing a centre of excellence for professional learning in early childhood services,” Ms O’Connor said.
Originally owned by the church, the land was compulsorily acquired in 1884 by the NSW Government to establish the public Blackfriars Primary School. The site evolved in the early 20th century to become the Sydney Teachers College, and eventually transferred to the University of Technology Sydney.
Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and Tertiary Liaison, Most Rev Richard Umbers, commended the acquisition as a prime example of the church’s commitment to education.
“For over 200 years, the Catholic Church has been the leading provider of education in Australia. The expansion of the University of Notre Dame Australia at Broadway, underscores the significance of education as an integral part of our ministry.”
Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney Executive Director, Michael Digges, who worked closely with UNDA to help secure this purchase stated it was a milestone acquisition in the life of the University, aligning with the vision of the late George Cardinal Pell AC on whose invitation it was that the University opened a Sydney campus.
“There is a longstanding and personal relationship between the Archdiocese of Sydney and UNDA born out of Cardinal Pell’s legacy to bring the University to Sydney back in 2003. This acquisition realises that long term vision UNDA and the Archdiocese have had of completing the Broadway campus.”
The University of Notre Dame Australia was founded in Freemantle in 1989 following concerns of a lack of tertiary education options for Catholic educators and medical professionals in Western Australia.
The invitation by Cardinal Pell in 2003 to open a Sydney campus was motivated by his wish to diversity Catholic higher education in the archdiocese and create a substantial Catholic tertiary education sector, seeing it as crucial to the future of the church in Australia. The first Sydney campus was opened by Prime Minister John Howard and Cardinal Pell in 2006 and has been growing steadily since, with the expansion of the Broadway site and Darlinghurst Campus.
The Sydney site was also visited and blessed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.