In information received by The Ensign, a declining roll and the growing cost of maintaining the building were some of the reasons Rosmini House did not reopen this year.
The hostel, located on the grounds of St Peter’s College, was home to students from St Peter’s as well as Māruawai College — which closed down its boarding house just under 10 years ago.
Māruawai, meaning valley of water, is the new name for the merged Gore High and Longford Intermediate school.
Rosmini House was last of its kind for students in Gore.
The trust informed its community of the closure in December after continued setbacks and dwindling enrolment numbers.
The Ensign understands the building was originally designed to house 100 students, but the roll had declined to less than 40.
The half-empty building was costing the trust a lot of money to run, heat and even more to maintain.
The structure was also old and needed costly work to upgrade it.
The trust had made an application to move the boarding house to the smaller St Joe’s dormitory on the same premises but it was declined.
This was apparently declined by the Ministry of Education due to a change in hostel regulations.
In a letter from charitable trust chairman Brendon Harrex to the staff, students and parents of Rosmini House, Mr Harrex said that despite efforts to find a smaller space, carrying the hostel on as it was was not "feasible".
"I want to extend our heartfelt apologies for the disruption and sadness this announcement may bring."
In the letter, Mr Harrex also said the trust would assist students in finding alternative living arrangements and that it would continue to work on a new business model with the hopes of forming another boarding house in the future.
He did not elaborate on how this would occur.
This closure means students from the outskirts of Gore have no option for boarding in the town, apart from staying in private homes.
Schools in Dunedin and Christchurch are competitive in headhunting students excelling academically and at sports.
