Marian College, Christchurch was founded in 1982 with the merging of two Catholic secondary schools for girls, St Mary’s College (Sisters of Mercy, established in Colombo Street in 1893) and McKillop College (named for Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross)) located in Shirley (founded in 1949 by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart). Both schools provided boarding and day facilities. It was decided to merge these schools into a larger Catholic secondary day school for girls which would be an integrated school under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 and to develop it on the McKillop College site in North Parade. The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch is the proprietor of the college. Marian College was officially opened on 25 March 1982, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. In the nearly 30 years which have elapsed, Marian College has extended its facilities to include an assembly hall/gymnasium, a music suite, library, technology rooms’ and new classrooms. The oldest building is the administration block built in 1914 by a Doctor Louisson as a family residence until it was sold to the Sisters of St Joseph in 1949.