HammondCare’s transformation of its Hammondville heartland with two new multi-storey aged care homes began yesterday with the demolition of the original Bond House nursing home

It was an important milestone in HammondCare’s 93 years of history with Bond House, dating back to the 1950s and innovative for its time, a link to the early days of the independent Christian charity.

The two new aged care homes, designed to meet National Aged Care Design Principles and Guidelines, will provide beds for 90 residents and turn the Hammondville precinct into a contemporary, integrated village.

General Manager Property and Capital Works Michael Cooney acknowledged the historic status of Bond House but “we are glad to see it go” shortly before swinging a sledgehammer.

He said the two new aged care homes costing $63 million will be the final stage of a long-term transformation of Hammondville.

“This is going to make a huge difference to the people we are serving. It’s why we are doing it,” Mr Cooney said.

“Inside these old buildings was a lot of double and triple bedrooms, and the new building will have single bedroom ensuites that meet best practice cottage-model guidelines.”

Joining Mr Cooney with the first sledgehammers were HammondCare executives and a team from contractors Stephen Edwards Construction led by Director Mattew Edwards.

The Hammondville site has a rich legacy. On November 20, 1932, then Hammond Pioneer Homes opened the first of 110 rent-purchase homes to accommodate Sydney families evicted during the Great Depression.

Rev Bob Hammond, using some of his own savings, acquired the land at Hammondville for the homes, a school, a general store, post office and a church in one of Australia’s most successful acts of personal philanthropy.

Bond House, a complex that includes adjoining Shaw and Poate nursing homes, was among the first nursing homes built to meet a growing challenge of aged care in the post-war years.

On September 11, 1954, then Hammond Pioneer Homes chief Bernard Judd told The Sydney Morning Herald the charity had switched from housing the homeless to helping older people.

“The community must do something about the problem of housing and settling its aged … And what we are doing is not provided by social service taxation through government agencies,” Rev Judd told the Herald.

The new eastern aged care home for residents living with dementia will be called Jones, named after former Director of Care services Olive Jones.

The new western building will provide general aged care services and be called Bond, after former Director of Nursing and HammondCare Board member Rosemary Bond, who attended the announcement.

Each care home will have three apartments, each with 15 ensuite rooms with a domestic kitchen and laundry, based on HammondCare’s cottage model design.

The Hammondville site, covering about 12 hectares in Sydney’s southwest, is already home to the largest number of dementia-specific residential care beds in Australia.