Historic Dunedin priory tidied up

by JEFF DILLON
The historic, distinctive Dominican priory building beside St Joseph’s Cathedral in central
Dunedin is being tidied up.

The sight of scaffolding and a rubbish chute leading to a cordoned off skip on the footpath
has greeted passersby for some weeks as they pass the end of the building on the corner of Smith and Tennyson Sts.
The priory, designed by Francis William Petre, who designed many famous New Zealand Catholic churches, was built to house the Dominican Sisters brought to Dunedin to meet the needs of an expanding settlement in the late 1870s.
The concrete construction achieved the distinction of being the largest non-reinforced concrete building in the Southern Hemisphere when it opened in 1877.
After the sisters moved out of the priory, it was used for housing Cambodian refugees for a while in the 1980s and then saw limited use before being put up for sale.
A possible northern buyer began some development work around 2005, but the sale and the proposed development were never completed as the financial climate turned sour.
Clean up work is now being undertaken to tidy up the interior and exterior.
Dunedin diocese general manager Gerald Scanlon indicated that the aim was to de-clutter the
space inside and to give it a good “cosmetic clean”.
Outside, weeds would be removed and damaged or missing slate roof tiles would be replaced. The
roof repair would reduce the amount of rainwater entering the building and stop pigeons getting into the roof space.
Mr Scanlon said the aim was to make the building more attractive.
He had some hopes that the preparation work would lead to interest in the potential of the
building.
The priory has a class 1 heritage status. Dunedin has had a number of sympathetic restorations
of older buildings in recent years, and that is the hope for this prominent building.
A couple of Christchurch-based heritage property consultant firms are developing concept
plans for the building.
They are likely to include some combination of office, visitor accommodation, retail and food/beverage options, Mr Scanlon said.
The diocese had also been working with Dunedin City Council heritage policy planner Dr Glen
Hazelton, who has been reported as saying that the council had had a long running concern
over the future of the building.
Mr Scanlon said the diocese would consider any proposals for the sale of the building or
building and land, and considered that it would no longer have any use for the Church.
“It screams for a sensitive approach,” he said, indicating that he hoped for a development consistent with the heritage values of the building.