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ST VINCENT DE PAUL'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Location

92-108 WOODLAND STREET, STRATHMORE, MOONEE VALLEY CITY

File Number

114

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

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Church (1959) viewed from

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
St Vincent de Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Woodland Street, Strathmore, was built in 1959 to replace a small church/school building that had been erected on the site almost 25 years before. The present building, designed by prolific Catholic architect Cyril C Kelly, is a large cream brick building that combines traditional form and planning with abstracted historical references and modern materials and finishes.

How is it significant?
St Vincent de Paul's Roman Catholic Church is of historical, social, spiritual, architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?
Historically, the church complex provides evidence of the gradual expansion of community facilities in the under-developed Strathmore area during the twentieth century, commencing with the original 1930s church/school, and culminating in the new church of 1959. Socially and spiritually, the church has been and remains as an important focus for Roman Catholic activity in the Strathmore and North Essendon area.

Architecturally, the church is a fine and intact example of the work of Cyril C Kelly, a prolific Catholic architect whose designs for churches and monasteries are characterised by a hybrid conservative/contemporary style. This church has much in common with the architect's other ecclesiastical work, namely those Catholic churches at Balwyn (1961) and Niddrie (1966).

Aesthetically, the church is an intact example of a post-war church in an unusual style that successfully combines traditional planning and form, abstracted historical detailing, and modern materials and finishes. It is notable for its bold sculptural composition with stepped facade and distinctive false-arched windows, and its interior with geometric stained glass windows, carved Stations of the Cross and unusual baldachino. The church remains a conspicuous element in the streetscape, and is a prominent landmark in the immediate area.

Group