Rotorua Museum, Government Gardens, Rotorua. Image: Su Leslie
The Bath House in Rotorua was opened in 1908 as a spa where visitors could “take the waters” from the city’s extensive network of thermal springs. It was the New Zealand government’s first major investment in tourism.
This rather grand half-timbered building, built (for some reason) in the Elizabethan Revival style, was designed by Dr Arthur Stanley Wohlmann — a balneologist (expert on medicinal springs) appointed by the government to advise on the development of New Zealand’s thermal areas into spa-style resorts.
In 1947, management of the building was transferred to the government’s Health Department, and the facilities continued to be used for medicinal purposes until the 1960s.
Rotorua Museum opened in the south wing of the Bath House in 1969; Rotorua Art Gallery opened in the north wing in 1977. In 1988, the museum and gallery combined to form the Rotorua Museum of Art and History.
In late 2016, the building was assessed as not meeting New Zealand’s new earthquake standards, and closed indefinitely.
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Zimmerbitch 
How very strange and out of place it looks, Su! And coincidentally I was walking at Roman baths this week 🙂 🙂
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Isn’t it delightfully weird for it’s time and place! The city has a bunch of other buildings in the same style so someone was set loose with the wrong set of Lego bricks.
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🙂 🙂
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I loved this building and the gardens when we were there in 2015, we visited again 2019 and I wanted more shots on to see it behind barricades and fenced off, so sad. Is it still standing or have they decided to demolish it?
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I think there would be a massive outcry if it was to be demolished. The cost of strengthening it will be horrendous, and I can’t see it being a priority in a Covid-impacted economy, so who knows.
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So still just sitting there waiting? So sad
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it is kind of an odd choice of styles, reminds me of the old asylums put up during the victorian ear. it would be an interesting building to have explored though
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Agreed. But I suspect that NZ was such a new country, and so closely tied to Britain’s apron strings, that it was considered quite acceptable to build in a faux Tudor style.
It is a great building inside, especially the upstairs ballroom that was, briefly, a nightclub.
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It must be cool to explore
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You seem to have a lot of very interesting buildings there Su. Nice that they’re art galleries and museums.
Anyone can enjoy them.
Leslie xoxo
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Thanks Leslie.
I love when beautiful buildings are given a second life as public spaces that everyone can enjoy.
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Beautifully impressive building, Su. What a shame it’s closed!
janet
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Isn’t it! I remember going to the nightclub that used to be in a rather grand ballroom on the first floor. I’m not really a clubber, but I did love the venue.
Sadly, since the Christchurch, and particularly Kaikoura, earthquakes have improved our understanding of how buildings behave, heritage structures throughout the whole country are in a similar situation.
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That’s a wonderful building, even if it is closed to the public I do hope they preserve it.
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I hope so too, but Rotorua is heavily dependent on overseas tourism and Covid-19 has really hit the city hard. The hope is that when the pandemic “dust” settles, central government will help fund the strengthening.
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It’s incredible how many places rely heavily on tourism.
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Yes. There have been warning voices for years about how unsustainable it is (even before Covid), and if ever there was a time to re-think how to manage people’s desire to travel in an increasingly fragile world, it is now.
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Going back to the ’60s and ’70s travel was much more expensive and maybe cheap flights have contributed to the reason that so many places are overwhelmed by tourists now. I’m not sure how we can go back to that time though as everyone now thinks they are entitled to cheap travel.
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So sad about it having to be closed. Can’t they reinforce the structure somehow to make it safe again?
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That is the plan, but it will be incredibly expensive. And as the city relies on overseas visitors for a huge percentage of its income, there is definitely no money to do the work at the moment.
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