Blue Baths soon to re-open

By Stacey Bodger

ROTORUA - Rotorua's historic Blue Baths are nearing the completion of their $1.5 million restoration - two weeks out from the building's 66th birthday.

The Blue Baths, housed in an art deco building in Government Gardens, opened to huge public interest in December 1933.

For decades, tourists would travel to bathe in the geothermal waters and the complex was considered Rotorua's social centre.

However, after years of operating losses and the opening of an aquatic centre in Kuirau Park, the Blue Baths closed in the early 1980s.

Last year, the Rotorua District Council accepted a proposal from Rotorua developer Mike Romanes to renovate the building and reopen it on a 21-year lease.

The Rotorua Museum of Art and History seized the chance to revisit the baths' glory years and is transforming the old changing rooms to house memorabilia and audio-visual displays of the pools in their heyday.

The old tearooms, above the pools, have been restored, as has the original cork-tile floor in the baths' foyer.

The baths will reopen to the public on December 22.