Sister Shirley Miller, headmistress of the Academy of the Sacred Heart, New Orleans, shakes hands with Barry Ashe, board chair for First Baptist Church, after signing papers transferring church property to the school. They are surrounded by officials and trustees for the school and church and lawyers and brokers who assisted the sale.

The Academy of the Sacred Heart (“the Rosary”) in New Orleans has purchased a major piece of property on St. Charles Avenue, just two blocks from the present school. The property purchase, finalized Aug. 1, is the first by the school in 115 years.

At one and a half square city blocks, the new property, sold by First Baptist Church of New Orleans, nearly doubles the size of the Sacred Heart campus.

Beginning in fall 2004, the new campus will house the Rosary’s pre-school and lower school.

"It was an historic and exciting moment as Baptists and Catholics joined hands, signed names and praised God," Sister Shirley Miller, headmistress, said.

The new property became available when members of First Baptist church voted to move to another site. The vote coincided with a feasibility study of the Rosary’s main campus in 1999 for the purpose of expanding and enhancing educational offerings to students. Sacred Heart officials said the new property would allow the school to meet needs identified in the study.

The new campus includes a 73,414 square foot sanctuary/education building, a 33,182 square foot activities building, and an area of 22,419 square feet that once housed buildings that have since been demolished. The purchase also includes a parking lot for 100 cars.

First Baptist will rent the property back from Sacred Heart until the congregation’s new facilities are completed in 2003. The delay gives Sacred Heart time to raise $7 million to finance its move with a capital campaign. The school has already raised $2.75 million over the past year.

The main campus of the Rosary was purchased in 1886 for $30,000.