HERITAGE COUNCIL GIVES BOYS’ COLLEGE TOP MARKS

The Queensland Heritage Council has ticked off the state’s oldest purpose-built Catholic boys’ college for heritage listing.

Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said Brisbane’s St Joseph’s Nudgee College was established in 1891 when chalk and slates were used in the classroom, and its strong sense of tradition had been officially recognised with its entry in the Queensland Heritage Register.

“Nudgee college has been an institution in Queensland for 116 years and has a long history as a boarding school for boys from outside Brisbane,” Ms Nelson-Carr said.

“In 1917 demand for boarding places was so high the library had to be used as a makeshift dormitory.”

Ms Nelson-Carr congratulated the college on its heritage listing.

Heritage council chairman David Eades said Nudgee college had been provisionally listed in the heritage register for various reasons but a contributing factor had been that some of the state’s pioneering architects had designed the school’s main buildings.

“Most of the core buildings were designed by leading Queensland architects at the height of their creative powers,” Mr Eades said.

“The heritage council would like to pay tribute to the college for its exemplary stewardship of the buildings over the years.

“They are remarkably intact and in good order considering the evolution in teaching and use that has occurred in the past 100 or so years.”

Flamboyant Italian sculptor, mason, builder and architect Andrea Stombuco designed St Joseph’s main building.

Later buildings were designed by James Percy Cowlishaw and Thomas Ramsay Hall, who was one of the architects of Brisbane City Hall in 1919.

Nudgee principal Daryl Hanly said the heritage listing was a milestone for the school.

“We feel honoured the process has progressed so well,” Mr Hanly said.

“The school is among the oldest in the state and, from an aesthetic point of view, the buildings are unique.

”The heritage listing has established a benchmark for any refurbishment of the existing buildings and for works at the school in the future.”

St Joseph’s Nudgee College was nominated for heritage listing by the Nudgee College Old Boys’ Association.

Media contact: Karla Steen 3336 8004 or Andie Gatti 3336 8002