The main building located on Clarendon Street and accessible from Lonsdale Street, originally housed Maryknoll College – a Girls’ Secondary School run by the Good Samaritan Sisters. The school was blessed and opened by Rev J P O’Collins, D D Bishop of Ballarat on Sunday 10 March 1968. Fr R Dunworth was the Parish Priest.
Monivae began co-education for senior students with full intake by 1977. As no boarding facilities were available to girls, private boarding places were initially sought. From 1977 Maryknoll College became Junior Monivae campus for Year 7 and 8 until 1998.
In 1998 Junior Monivae moved to Ballarat Road campus and a Parish Task Force explored several proposals for leasing the building to interested parties. The Task Force also considered building modern units for elderly parishioners. Following submissions from several parishioners during 2000, the parish Council moved to retain the buildings and land for Parish purposes and formally named the buildingMaryknoll Centre.
Parish Council permitted buildings to be used an Outreach and Community Centre. Financed by the Parish, considerable works were carried out in 2003 to upgrade the buildings. A large number of private donations of equipment and furnishings and hundreds of hours of voluntary labour enabled the Centre to become operational. All painting, cleaning and minor maintenance that continues to be carried out is from voluntary labour.
