In the late 1890s the Sisters of Charity were seeking to found an order in the Blue Mountains to provide a place of respite for exhausted nuns "where they might find fresh vigour for God's work".

The Mount St Mary's premises in town eventually proved inadequate for the rapidly increasing student base, so, in 1907, it was decided to purchase substantial acreage to the north of the railway station on which to build a brand new boarding house for girls and convent accommodation for the Sisters.

The following year on 24 June 1908, an additional 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres) were purchased from Frank Grimley adding orchards and vegetable gardens to an already spacious landscape.

"[1] The building of Mount St Mary's Ladies' College, Katoomba, was completed with remarkable speed with boarding pupils being accepted by February, 1910.

This included low stone garden walls forming a series of informal grassed and cultivated terraces where ornamental trees and shrubs were placed.

In 1926 Mount St Mary's celebrated its silver jubilee and in commemoration a grotto was built in the front garden of the convent, housing a Carrara marble statue of Our Lady of Lourdes.

[1] Apart from the perceived dangers of city living, the War years drew parents' attention to the safety of the Mountains and led to an increase in enrolments at the college.

The site is located at the northern side of the railway line, north-east of the Blue Mountains City Council complex and north-west of the Court House.

[1] Essentially the building retains a high degree of integrity in its external form, scale and character despite later alterations and additions, and vandalism over the recent years.

Decorative stucco elements, painted corrugated iron roof sheeting or terracotta tiles, and timber windows essentially remains.

In addition, the extensive hard and soft landscape design elements define a number of official, religious, utilitarian and recreational zones associated Catholic institutions.

The scale and setting of Mount St Mary's reflects a significant period in the growth and development of Catholic educational institutions in NSW and their subsequent decline as a regional presence across the State.

[1] Mount St Marys College and Convent was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 21 November 2003, having satisfied the following criteria:[1] Mount St Mary's College and Convent is associated with the significant historic stage in the development of the Blue Mountains as a place for education, accommodation, recreational activities, cultural extension, and pastoral care in the form of religion, all in a natural environment conducive to good health.

Mount St Mary's shows evidence of the establishment (1909), growth (1946) and later decline (1964 - 1974) of a Catholic secondary school which for the majority of its existence was dedicated to the progressive education of young women.

[1] Mount St Mary's College and Convent is of State significance for its association with the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity in Australia, and their progressive role in the education of young women in NSW during the 20th Century.

The purpose built Mount St Mary's College and Convent is also associated with the ecclesiastical architectural works of the firm Budden and Nangle.

Due to its scale, prominent tower and siting on high ground it forms a significant landmark and civic presence at the eastern entrance to Katoomba.

[1] The Federation Free Classical style in uncommon in eastern Australia, and Mount St Mary's is a notable example of its use in country New South Wales.

[1] Mount St Mary's College and Convent has an important association with the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity in Australia and the broader Roman Catholic Church.

[1] As the Renaissance Centre, its association with artists, performers and the hospitality industry ensured its continuing importance to the social and cultural life of the Katoomba and wider Blue Mountains communities.

The Mount St Mary's College and Convent, in its phase as The Renaissance Centre, has had local representative social significance for the community of the Blue Mountains, and for its continued use for commercial purposes.

It has local social significance for its contribution to the character and identity of the streetscape of the immediate vicinity, and as a focal point for the wider Blue Mountains communities, and regional and international tourists and students.

[1] Research into the history of the Mount St Mary's site reveals its earlier association with education through its use, by pupils from John Walter Fletcher's Boys' College, as a sporting area.

The Mount St Mary's site represents one of the last large parcels of land to survive the subdivision patterns resulting naturally from the urban development and expansion of Katoomba.