In Christchurch, New Zealand, the Sisters of Nazareth have released plans for an ambitious development on their 8-hectare Brougham St site. The plans include an 80-bed care hospital and rest home, plus a dementia unit, convent and chapel, and a 62-unit retirement village.

The new facilities will replace the ones destroyed by the Christchurch earthquake.

“This is a very big act of faith, because the insurance will only cover a third of the cost,” says Sister Dominica Cooper, the order’s Melbourne-based regional superior. She hopes a fundraising appeal will help reduce the shortfall.

“But we believe we will get there. This is something coming out of the rubble; something like this gives a sense of hope and we need that in Christchurch. Nazareth House will rise again.”

The Nazareth House name dates from the order’s early 1900s orphanage and later rest home, rebuilt in the 1980s behind the original three-storey complex.

The chapel will reuse artefacts salvaged from its predecessor, including a marble altar and stained glass windows.

Resource consent applications for the retirement units go in in August, and the first residents could be in by March. The staged development is due for completion in three years.

The sisters hope to start building in October.

The complex will be run by Nazareth Care, the operating arm of the Sisters of Nazareth, and will be open to people of any faith.

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News category: New Zealand, Top Story.