New names for key buildings, locations

A number of buildings and locations around Blackfriars will be formally named for the first time. 

While many school buildings – such as the Neill Gymnasium, the James O’Doherty Theatre and, more recently, Frassati Hall and the Aquinas Centre – have been given official names, other key locations have not. 

Under the changes, to become official on the Feast of Saint Dominic, on 3 August, the following buildings/locations will be named. 

Front lawn – Padnipadninya Tapa 

Padnipadninya Tapa are the local indigenous words for Walking Trail.  

They relate to artist Paul Herzich’s depiction of Blackfriars’ location on Prospect Road – originally a walking trail for Kaurna people – on the school’s new Welcome to Country artwork.  

The name, researched by the artist, has cultural consent from Kaurna Warra Pintyanthi (KWP), the leading group dedicated to Kaurna language.  

KWP has also provided a voice recording for accurate pronunciation. 

Prospect Road double gates/pedestrian gate/adjacent garden – Kingston Gates/Kingston Garden 

The double gates fronting Prospect Rd, the adjacent pedestrian gate and the garden between the entry and the Aquinas Centre will be named for benefactor James Kingston.

Mr Kingston’s financial contribution to Blackfriars assisted in the construction of the Kingston Laboratories, which were demolished in 2020. 

Primary School classroom block and Reception/OSHC room – Ferrer Building 

The Primary School/OSHC block will be named for St Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419). 

Ferrer, a Spaniard who is the patron of the school’s de Vitoria House, was known as the most gifted preacher of his time.

He spent the early 15th century spreading the Gospel through western Europe. 

The name also recognises the school’s original Primary School, situated, from 1959 to 1968, in the building at the corner of Highbury and Bradford Streets and known as Ferrer House.  

The same building was later used for Environmental Design, and then the Transition program, until being sold by the school in the 1980s. 

Creative Arts & Design Technology Centre – Angelico Centre 

Bl Fra Angelico (aka Bl John of Fiesole; 1395-1455) was an Italian Dominican and one of the most renowned artists of the early Renaissance. 

Angelico was known for the beauty of his paintings and the holiness of his priestly life.  

The name also recognises one of the school’s two defunct 1986 “vertical” houses – Angelico and De Porres. 

School oval – Lewis Oval 

The Lewis family bought the St Catharine’s property in 1911 and renamed it Comonella, after one of the family’s pastoral holdings. 

The family worked with Fr Jerome O’Rorke OP to transfer ownership to the Dominicans in 1952. 

John Lewis has a scholarship named for him, however, it was his children, Lena Lewis, Olive Kirchner and Margaret Lewis, who negotiated the transfer of the property to the Dominicans. 

 Meanwhile, Blackfriars will also consider naming the lawns adjacent the Aquinas Centre/Masters’ Pavilion. 

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That area will become known as either the Masters’ Lawn, if a tree planted by the Most Reverend Damien Byrne OP, in 1988, can be relocated, or the Byrne Lawn, if the tree cannot be relocated. 

The St Catharine’s administration building will be rededicated as St Catherine’s, in honour of St Catherine of Siena, an Italian mystic, activist and author, declared a doctor of the church in 1970. 

The stately building was originally built for James Angas Johnson, and was named for his wife, Catharine (nee Williams).