SAGADA MOUNTAIN PROVINCE – A common site at the Mission Compound located within the environs of the Church of St Mary the Virgin is the dilapidated Girls’ Dormitory then used to house young girls from Sagada who worked on embroidery and lace making under the supervision of American nuns and women teachers during the Anglican missionary work in Sagada in the early 1900s.
The rundown state of the structure urged visiting US balikbayan Philip Lacbawan, an alumnus of St Mary School who emotionally called for the restoration of the Girls’ Dormitory during a meeting of SMS alumni for the upcoming alumni homecoming March 31-April 2.
Pinewood shingles of the Girls’ Dorm while these are wearing off still show sturdy construction and some restoration to keep the materials in their former state. GI roofs stand supremely strong though windows are falling off and decrepit doors have practically given up with cows able to get inside and warm themselves.
The first floor of the two- storey structure is in a dilapidated state needing major repairs including fixing up the drainage with waste water coming from the commercial building located just above the old structure.
In the previous years, the dilapidated structure used to house boarders from the community. By 2009 some St Mary School students and the school head resided in the building until 2012 when they were told to leave as the structure was to be repaired by St Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) to serve as doctors’ quarters.
The plan however was set aside with the multi million building of St Luke’s Global City at Taguig City affecting its finances, St. Mary School Alumni Association (SMSAA) chairman Thomas Killip said as relayed to him by SLMC chairman of the Board Robert Kuan.
The Girls’ Dorm then built in 1912 by the American Missionaries of the Episcopal Church in the USA under the supervision of the Rev John Staunton then served as St Mary’s School building. It is now under the stewardship of the incorporated St Mary’s School of Sagada (SMSSI).
With the burning of the SMS school in 1975, the Girls’ Dormitory was used as administration building and classrooms until philanthropist and businessman Alfonso Yuchengco Sr. from Metro Manila donated for the construction of the new SMS building in 1979 located on the site of the burned school building.
Lacbawan said some parts of the building are ‘easy fixes’ as changing the windows and the doors and the bigger repairs on the drainage and the first floor and it can be ready for use.
Individuals, families, and SMS alumni, perhaps by class, can sponsor the repair of a window, or a door, Lacbawan said while awaiting bigger amounts for full repair and restoration.
The Girls’ Dormitory is one of four structures within the Mission Compound identified as potential heritage houses in a standing petition as heritage sites with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the National Commission on Culture and Arts NCCA).**By Gina Dizon
