Erina House, a two-story bluestone house and home to Dr J. M. Gunson and family, stood next door and to the west of the Convent of Mercy. The Gunson children attended SAC and were able to hop over the dividing wall to go to class. Dr Gunson was a good friend to the Sisters, offering them and the boarders free medical treatment.
1929
Erina House was demolished in 1929 to make way for an expansion of the Tram Barn. This City Tram Depot operated here until 1986 and remained empty for the next 20 years.
2003
In 2003, St Aloysius College gained access to the Tram Barn, which became a space for whole school assemblies. This was a vast improvement for students who no longer had to brave the weather for assemblies in the Jordan Courtyard. A carpet square was collected at the door as some protection from the cold and greasy concrete floor.
2008
The Tram Barn was demolished in 2006 and the Judith Redden Centre was opened in 2008. It was named after Sr Judith Redden, principal of St Aloysius College from 1983 until 2013. This building houses a gymnasium and fitness centre on the top floor, middle school classrooms on the first floor and a large gathering space for the whole school on the ground floor.
The building won two Master Builders Association Building Excellence Awards in 2018 and a commendation in the South Australia Architecture Awards in 2019.
By Carol Grantham
St Aloysius College Archivist, 2022.
Related:
Sr Judith Redden
130 Year Mosaic
References
Erina House, Angas Street 1876, Photograph, State Library of South Australia B 10676, viewed 15 July 2022, <https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+10676>.
1996, Women on the move: Mercy’s Triple Spiral, Sisters of Mercy, Adelaide.