| St Kieran's hall renewed after 90 years | ||||
| St Kieran's Parish in Osborne Park re-opened their extensively refurbished Parish Community Centre last Sunday November
28. Built in 1914, the building, on Waterloo Street Tuart Hill, was originally used as a Church.
but was converted to a Community centre In 1988. Parish priest Fr Michael Gatt |
said the building is valued for its
strong religious associations as a well-loved parish church, which . served the people, of Osborne
Park and surrounding districts from 1914 to 1983. "It is a landmark for all to see and is listed with the City of Stirling Municipal Inventory" he said. |
A new church building was completed
in 1983 and opened by Archbishop Goody. Many items, such as the tabernacle, pulpit, baptismal font and some statues from the original church were re-located to the new church. The Community Centre was also used as a school. |
The 90-year-old building is well used by the community and its renovation was sponsored by the Heritage Council and
Lotterywest. The refurbishment includes a roof replacement, repairs to the external brick walls, soak wells and internal improvements. "The Centre has a very impressive |
finish and it has been
predicted to last another 90 years," Fr Gatt said. The official re-opening ceremony was conducted by Bishop Don Sproxton in the prescence of Minister John Kobelke and the Mayor of the City of Stirling Tony Vallelonga among other distinguished guests. |
| The Record 2 December 2004 | ||||
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| Parishioners celebrate together in the restored parish centre | ||
| Photo courtesy of Stirling Times | ||
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| Father Michael Gatt, Bishop Donald Sproxton and Father Ted Hewitt celebrate Mass at the parish centre re-opening ceremony |
| Centre blessed | ||
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By PAMELA MEDLEN |
acknowledgement will go to the pioneers of this parish who worked so hard and contributed so much money, energy, sweat and free labour to build our first church," he said. | |
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The refurbished parish centre at St Kieran's in Osborne Park was officially reopened and blessed last week. | ||
Bishop Donald Sproxton | ||
| Stirling Times 7 December 2004 | ||
Refurbished Parish Centre A special invitation to our friends and former parishioners to attend the Parish Centre Official Opening. The Church Office has advised that Bishop Donald Sproxton is to visit our parish to bless and re-open our refurbished Parish Centre on Sunday 28 November 2004. It will be the First Sunday of Advent - the beginning of a New Liturgical Year. The programme will include the Family Morning Mass at 8.30am followed by the Blessing of the Centre and a Special Morning Tea. N.B. There will be no 10.00am Italian Mass on that Sunday.Please put it in your diary to attend this special parish event and bring your family and friends with you. Fr Michael |
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AN HISTORIC PROFILE OF THE St Kieran Roman Catholic Church was built in 1914, re-built in 1923, finished and extended in 1933 and converted to a parish Community Centre in 1988. It is valued for its strong religious associations as a well-loved parish church, which served the people of Osborne Park and surrounding districts from 1914 to 1983 and, for the considerable contribution of voluntary assistance throughout all phases of its existence. Since 1988 it has served both the parish and the wider community and is significant for its social value. In 1911 Monsignor Fagan, of West Perth, began visiting Osborne Park to celebrate Mass - initially in private homes, and subsequently in the State School. Discussions began in 1913 about a proposal to build a Roman Catholic Church in Osborne Park and Archbishop Clune authorised the construction in 1914. It was designed in the Federation Gothic style by Architect R J Dennehy. Parishioners commenced work on clearing the land and the new church was built by day labour at a great saving in cost. Archbishop Clune laid the foundation stone on 4 August 1914 (it remains in place in the vestibule) and dedicated and opened the St Kieran Roman Catholic Church on 8 November 1914. Monsignor Fagan celebrated the first Mass in the Church on 15 November. The church building was also used as a school from 1920 until the St Kieran School was built in Cape Street in 1934. The Sisters of Mercy provided the instruction and the pews were folded over to form long desks during the week. During a severe storm on 9 June 1923 there was extensive damage to the church. It was completely un-roofed - one side fell into the church, tearing down gables and portions of side walls, crushing the floor and furniture. Fr Moloney, from Leederville, celebrated Mass in the Agricultural Hall over the following months and was responsible for the re-building after the congregation decided to commence reconstruction. This was completed by October, when the church was re-opened and again blessed by Archbishop Clune. In August 1933, a building permit was granted to Fr Moloney for extensions to the church, which more than doubled its capacity. A new sacristy was added and the sanctuary enlarged. On 17 December 1933, Archbishop Clune blessed and re-opened the extended church. In 1937 the new parish of Osborne Park - Wanneroo was established with Fr A T Langmead appointed Parish Priest. In 1971 the Italian community built a special alcove at the church to accommodate a statue of Our Lady, Maria SS. Annunziata, which had been made in Bolzano, Italy. The celebration of the feast day has become an annual event in the parish. In the 1970s the condition of the church was discussed and possible ways to make improvements. At the Annual General Meeting of the Parish in September 1980, it was agreed that the Parish Council should be instructed to proceed with building a new church. Architect, Michael Broderick, was commissioned for the project. The new octagonal church was designed to harmonise with the existing church and to provide a correct setting for modern liturgy. The pulpit and Baptism font were adapted and re-located to the new Church and the tabernacle and statues of the saints were also re-located. On 23 July 1983, the new St Kieran's Roman Catholic Church was dedicated by Archbishop, the Most Rev L J Goody. By late 1986 it was decided to preserve the old church and to proceed with renovations and conversion of it to the St Kieran Community Centre. Michael Broderick was responsible for the design for the conversion, which provided a mezzanine floor extending over half the main hall, an extension at the ground floor comprising a meeting room with a servery, a storeroom and kitchen and pantry facilities, toilet facilities and offices. The St Kieran Community Centre was officially blessed and opened on 16 October 1988 by Bishop R Healy. 2004 Restoration & Refurbishment The St Kieran Community Centre has undergone extensive restoration and refurbishment with provision of a new roof, repairs to external brick walls, soak wells and internal improvements. The refurbished Centre will be blessed and re-opened on 28 November 2004 by Bishop D Sproxton. |
Fr Michael Gatt |