Sisters of Charity to leave heritage building
CBC News
Posted: Nov 1, 2011 5:15 AM AT
Last Updated: Nov 1, 2011 6:01 AM AT
The Sisters of Charity are moving out of the St. Vincent’s Motherhouse after 146 years at their residence on Cliff Street in Saint John.
St. Vincent's Motherhouse is run down and beyond repair.
At one point, more than 100 Catholic sisters lived at St. Vincent's and now the remaining 17 sisters will move to a new complex on Burpee Avenue in the coming weeks.
St. Vincent's will be demolished early next year.
Sister Mary Beth McCurdy, the congregational leader at St. Vincent's, said the sisters haven't decided what to do with the land after the building is torn down.
"Our desire is to be attentive to what God is calling us to use this land for. Not necessarily will we be the builders, but we would love to see the works that we have given our lives for, to continue," McCurdy said.
McCurdy said she and her fellow sisters plan to donate much of St. Vincent's contents to charities and other chapels.
Historian Elizabeth McGahan said the destruction of the heritage building is a loss for the city.
"We look at the buildings and we connect with our predecessors, our Saint John predecessors. When we chip away at that, we chip away at our collective heritage," McGahan said.
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