Closing Bell: Tour the Former Sisters of Mercy Convent in Clinton Hill

The Brooklyn Historical Society is giving visitors a look inside the 150-year-old Sisters of Mercy Convent at 273 Willoughby Avenue in Clinton Hill. The Sisters of Mercy, also known as the Walking Sisters, were forced to close their doors in 2008 after 146 years of sheltering the homeless, raising orphans and nursing the sick.The 27,000-square-foot building needed $20,000,000 in repairs, and the convent chose to relocate the nuns who lived there to more appropriate facilities in 2009. However, the sisters still use the building as administrative offices for Mercy Home, the order’s network of group homes for developmentally disabled children and adults. The nearly block-long campus between Willoughby, Classon and Taafe Place hosts Mercy’s recreational and outpatient programs, as well as an after school program.

“Their former home remains remarkably intact,” says the tour info.  “Behind the convent’s imposing walls lies a welcoming oasis of beauty, grace, greenery, and 150 years of Brooklyn history.”

Sister Caroline Tweedy, Mercy Home’s Director of Development, will lead the tour. The tour will take place Wednesday, August 6 from 6:30 to 8 pm, and tickets cost $15.

Photo by Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark