Sale of Martha House Returns Property to Its Roots

Sale of Martha House Returns Property to Its Roots

 

By Deacon Eric Gurash

 

Martha House, the former residence for the retired clergy of the Archdiocese of Regina, will soon be transitioning into a childcare facility operated by the YWCA of Regina. The property, located at 1855 2 Ave N has functioned as a residence for retired clergy since 1984. 

 

Originally built as a replacement for the aging Mercy Hospital, the facility, then operated by the Sisters of St. Martha had the care of single mothers and their children as its primary mandate. The current re-purposing of the property by the YWCA will, in some ways, be a return to its roots.

 

In a statement from the YWCA, a representative shared that “the YWCA of Regina is very excited to play a role in bringing the use of the property back to its roots in support of children and families.” Plans have been announced to use the property for a new childcare centre which will be named The YWCA Centre for Play and Development. This centre will be home to 2 licensed childcare centres providing quality, well rounded developmental programming to 141 children in the city of Regina.

 

Expenses involved in bringing the building up to code as well as other necessary renovations, coupled with the Archdiocese of Regina’s desire to support the new Trinity Manor at Westerra development, led to the decision to sell the property. The sale of the property was completed on January 31 of this year and was leased from the YWCA starting on February 1 until Trinity Manor at Westerra was ready for occupancy. 

 

Trinity Manor at Westerra is operated by Emmanuel Care and owned by the Catholic Bishops of Saskatchewan through the Saskatchewan Catholic Health Corporation.  As a new facility, Trinity Manor will be able to provide the retired clergy of the Archdiocese with more services and an increase of care to residents due to the increased scale of its operations. The end of June saw a total of five retired clergy, formerly residing at Martha House, moved into new homes at Trinity Manor.

 

The Archdiocese of Regina is extremely grateful for the decades of service to young mothers and their children and, more recently, to our retired clergy by the various religious communities that have looked after operating the facility since its inception in 1964. These have included the Sisters of St. Martha, who originally looked after the administration of the facility, the Sisters of St. Joseph who took over the facility in 1984 and the Daughters of Mary Mother of the Church who most recently provided care for residents of Martha House and looked after its administration.

 

The Archdiocese is also very happy to have an organization like the Regina YWCA re-purpose the facility, and to see a revitalization of its original mission to care for children and families within the city of Regina.