One of the most visited and photographed buildings in New Zealand, the Rotorua Museum has been closed for seven years. Photo / Whakaata Maori, File
By Libby Kirkby-McLeod of RNZ
The Rotorua Museum is the most photographed building in New Zealand. It is also closed.
Built on geothermally heated ground and damaged from an earthquake in 2016, it is nowhere near meeting the building code.
Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell said fixing it would be one of the most complex earthquake-strengthening projects in the country.
“You’ve got a 115-year-old wooden-framed building, sitting on weak pumice masonry walls, and sitting on top of ... geothermally heated ground - now this is so warm you could cook a pizza on it.”
Head next door and you will find the Blue Baths. Also closed, it is even less safe to be in.
Tapsell said that the future of the Blue Baths would be very difficult to solve.
“We have active geothermal activity underneath it, which unfortunately means a high risk of liquefaction.”
Drive south a couple of hours and you will find another hugely photographed building, the Chateau Tongariro. It is also standing empty.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) now manages it and said it was keenly aware it was a highly regarded heritage building sitting at the gateway to the Tongariro National Park, which itself has Dual World Heritage for its natural and cultural heritage.
DoC deputy director general of organisation support Mike Tully said the department was conducting ongoing routine maintenance to ensure the building remained in its current condition.
“The department is committed to working with iwi and a range of stakeholders on these issues.”
A few valleys away, the Waitomo Hotel still looks down imposingly as drivers sweep past towards the caves. But, after years of complex problems leading to a lack of investment, it is also closed.
Waitomo mayor John Robertson said it was sad to see it that way.
“In its time it was just magnificent.”
Lloyd Macomber specialises in heritage conservation at architecture firm Salmon Reed.
He said New Zealand was too young a country to have ruins and there was only one thing that can be done about these prominent yet problematic buildings.
“Just apply a lot of money. There’s no short way to say that, there’s no silver bullet.”
Why not just knock the buildings down and start again?
“They really are missed when they’re not there. They offer a marker in time of where New Zealand was and what New Zealand was thinking - rightly or wrongly let’s just say - for that particular place and location and setting within the country.”
Ruapehu District Mayor Weston Kirton agreed, and said even though the chateau was an old building it was still relevant to the community.
“The general feeling of the community is that they want to retain it in its former glory.”
There was no doubt in Tapsell’s mind that the Rotorua community felt connected to its old buildings.
She was committed to getting them open again, though maybe not used in the same way, and she hoped the Government would help out with the cost of retaining the buildings in the long term.
Tapsell said fixing old buildings up was just one part of the problem; they needed ongoing care - even while they just sat empty.
“We are looking after them, but we are also desperately wanting to provide certainty to our community - and also the country - that these significant buildings will have a future.”
A pile of sparklers and a lighter were found at the scene.