The An-Nur Education and Care Centre in South Dunedin, run by the Al-Noor Charitable Trust, closed in September and the site was recently listed for sale.
The centre was based at the former St Patrick’s Primary School, and before that, St Edmund’s School in Macandrew Rd.
Trust chairman Dr Mohammad Alayan said parents did not feel safe putting their children in a Muslim school since the attack.
In 2017, the centre was at maximum capacity and had children on the waiting list, but now with only one teacher and just over 10 children, it could not stay open.
There were plans to establish a Muslim primary school at the site, catering to Syrian refugees.
He said "losing the school is like losing a second child."
Although safety measures had been put in place, families simply did not feel comfortable with their children going somewhere that could be seen as a target.
Instead, they had moved their children to general schools.
There was also an issue of staffing, as interest in working there had dropped off and it was relying heavily on relief teachers.
Some who had worked there had returned overseas following the attack and the centre could not meet staffing requirements.
It had been three years, but the perception had not changed.
The fears were made worse by rumours that the gunman, who lived in Dunedin, prepared for the attack by observing Muslim centres in the city.
It was hard to say if the feelings of fear had eased, as it was such a harmful event for the Muslim community, Dr Alayan said.
"It is huge for us to overcome."
The organisation opened the country’s first Muslim child care centre in 2000 in Christchurch and expanded to Dunedin in 2013.
The community in Christchurch had been resilient and the centre there was still running, he said.
