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Advocacy Programs Call to Action: Belvedere Convent and Orphanage!
Belvedere Convent and Orphanage, part of St. John's unique heritage, face an uncertain future.
These two buildings are important both architecturally and historically. The convent (St. Michael's) is, after the Anderson House on Signal Hill Road and the Commissariat, the oldest building in the city. Though somewhat altered because of the modern siding, it still retains many of its original features. Its association with H.A. Emerson links it with a political family involved with Newfoundland
government from 1832 to 1949. The fact that it was the deathplace of Bishop Fleming links it with the builder of the Roman Catholic Cathedral and the figure who shaped Newfoundland politics when it was in
its infancy.
 The Orphanage is, with the Benevolent Irish Society's St. Patrick's Hall, the only surviving Second Empire style masonry institutional building in Newfoundland. While this is by no means certain, it is likely to be one of the few, if not the only remaining building designed by Howley who saw himself as something a Renaissance man writing poetry, operettas, scholarly articles and histories. Both buildings are part of an area of very considerable architectural and historic importance - the religious precinct. It is likely that this area is, after the area comprising the seminary and the cathedral in Quebec, the most compact and closely linked collection of religious buildings in North America. This precinct is worthy of consideration by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as a National Historic District. The Fight for Belvedere! - The Chronology
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