Millicent is set to have its second building on the South Australian Heritage List and it is only 57 years old.

St Alphonsus Catholic Church is set to join the former police stables and cells which were erected in the 1870s.

According to Heritage SA, the church is an outstanding, critically-recognised example of late twentieth-century ecclesiastical Modern Movement architecture in South Australia.

“St Alphonsus’ Church is a pivotal example of a post-war church, as it was the first South Australian church to respond directly to the Instruction on the Liturgy, a key document arising from the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican,” stated the Heritage SA submission.

“The George Street church is one of the largest churches built in regional South Australia after the Second World War.

“This reflects the rapid growth and prosperity of the town of Millicent as it emerged as a regional service centre for forestry and nearby associated industries during the post-war boom.

“Many were migrants and those who attended Mass at St Alphonsus’ Church swelled the size of the Catholic congregation, leading directly to the construction of the new church in 1965-1966.”

The brick church has been provisionally listed on the SA Heritage Register and is subject to a three-month period of public consultation.

Two other churches dedicated to St Alphonsus have stood on this site.