The Provincial Council has been exploring possibilities for Marists to live at Maryknoll, the former Second Novitiate house in Hawkes Bay.
The exploration of using Maryknoll is a result of the Council’s understanding that the province will have a number of Marists based in Hawkes Bay and a strong sense within the Council that given its historical and symbolic significance within the Province, it would be desirable to have a Community centred on the Mission property, .
Maryknoll is owned by Marist Holdings’ Greenmeadows Ltd, and discussions have been held with the Board, who have been very supportive and encouraging of a joint-initiative to use the site.
Built as a Second Novitiate house it was never the intention that Maryknoll have a permanent Marist community resident there. As well as not being suitable, recent architectural and engineering advice, sought in the last few months, has confirmed that it is not possible to modify the present building to suitable standards.
Consequently, a joint working party of two members of the Marist Holdings Greenmeadows Ltd Board, plus Tim Duckworth and John Murphy, will in the new year begin work with an architect to plan demolition of the present building and the establishment of new accommodation on the site.
If things turn out satisfactorily, and that includes a number of factors including costs, engineering aspects etc, then we would aim to have a new building in place within 18 months. At that stage, we would then rationalise how much of the Taradale accommodation we will need to retain.