Heritage Centre Many of you may not know that St Joseph’s College originally opened in 1890. Brother Canice Butler, the Superior of St Augustine’s Orphanage, had been accepting boys for boarding, who it was thought would benefit from the discipline of the Christian Brothers. In order to accommodate the increasing requests to provide more accomodation for boarders, Brother Butler purchased additional property bordering Aphrasia Street, and in 1889 construction of St Joseph’s College began. The College opened on March 16 1890, with 43 boarders enrolling that year. By June 1891 there were 57 boarders and 30 day boys.When St Patrick’s College in Ballarat opened in 1893, many of St Joseph’s College boarders were encouraged to enrol there. St Joseph’s College closed in January 1893 as a result. In 1935, as the Great Depression was ending and Geelong was struggling to return to prosperity, St Joseph’s College reopened. Between 1935 and January 1939 the College shared the site with St Augustine’s Orphanage. The Orphanage occupied the bluestone building on Queens Road and the new St Joseph’s was housed in the original St Joseph’s building facing Aphrasia Street. When St Augustines’s moved to Highton in Janauary 1939, the Orphanage building became part of St Joseph’s College, which allowed the College to proceed with plans to enrol boarders. In September 1939, renovations of the Orphanage building began and by 1940 the College was once again open to boarders. That first year saw an initial intake of 22 boarders, this number increasing to 27 by the years end. In 1950 there were 150 boarders at the College and a house on Aphrasia Street was purchased to accommodate the senior boarders. The new house was named Butler House after Brother Butler. There were boarders at the College for the next 27 years. In 1967, the last year of boarders at the College, there were 90 boarders enrolled. The decision to close the boarding house was made, because it was felt that the College had a responsibility to provide more positons for local boys. 2017 is the 50th Anniversary since the Boarding section of the College closed, and many of the Boarders returned, to reconnect with old friends and see how the passage of time had changed their College. One such change began late last year when renovations on the Heritage Centre, on Shannon Avenue, were undertaken; transforming the Centre both on a cosmetic and conservation level. The original footprint of the building
went unchanged; instead works focused on bringing the Old Newtown Library’s facilities up to date. The façade of the Heritage Centre underwent a complete transformation with the original timber windows being replaced with double glazing with College branding being displayed on the canopy, to clearly tie it to the school. Internally the display space has been expanded with the removal of the airlock; the original 1953 kitchen and toilet facilites have been updated, with the new bathroom allowing for wheelchair access. Further to this, the preservation capabilities of the Heritage Centre were improved, the installation of airconditioning means that the records, artifacts and ephemera held in the Centre are held in conditions optimal for their preservation. Furthermore, it greatly improved working conditions, previous tempretures in the building fluctuated from 10 degrees in winter to 30 plus in summer. St Joseph’s College is extremely privileged to have such an outstanding Heritage Centre. Recording and documenting our history is only part of capturing the past. Dates and events record what happened in the past but it is the cultural happenings around these events that shape our heritage and our future. Heritage is the cultural memory attached to those occurances and the impact those events have on the shaping of a place and a culture. It is important to actively record history and preserve the artifacts, ephemera and documents. It is through the recording of history and preservation of heritage that we can learn from our past and the impact it has had on our world. The Heritage Centre is open all day on Tuesday and visitors are always welcome, drop in and look at the displays and ask about relatives who may have attended St Joseph’s. Also when you are in Reception make sure you check out the Heritage Display Cabinets. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me and the Centre over the past year, especially Old Collegian Terry Phillips, Kathleen Rawson and Lisa Brown; much is accomplised because of their input. I would also like to thank everyone who has donated artifacts, documents and photographs and allowed me to make copies of photographs, it is because of your generosity that the Heritage Centre will continue be a custodian of the history and heritage of St Joseph’s. - Susan Belluzzo, Archivist Boarders Return ing To SJC for the 2017 Reunion
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Boarder’s Dining Room 1940
Boarder’s Dormitory 1940
