The Convent

This former Catholic girls boarding school and convent was closed in the mid 1980’s. The buildings have been used for a variety of purposes over the years (including featuring in a couple of Peter Jackson films), but it has now been deemed unsafe and closed indefinately. Although carrying the Historic Places Trust’s highest heritage protection status, the closure due to being “Earthquake prone” has left it in a strange kind of limbo. Since my last visit a year ago, vandals have constantly broken in and smashed and tagged their way throughout the buildings. The future looks very bleak indeed for this Historic landmark.