If you could change the CBD what would you like to see? Photo / File
If you could change the CBD what would you like to see? Photo / File
A surge in For Lease signs on inner-city shop windows is giving city advocates room for blue-sky thinking.
A bold and inspirational plan for the "new look" CBD is what Rotorua needs, Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard says.
He believes themed architecture, sectioned CBD areas, inner-city living andmore precincts are all needed to recreate a vibrant and prosperous business district.
Heard said the city should develop a strong Māori and timber architectural theme, similar to Eat Streat, throughout the CBD.
"Rotorua is the only bilingual city in New Zealand and has the only credible Wood First policy.
"A theme of modern timber design, based on Māori stylised art is the natural fit for the CBD redevelopment."
Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard also believed the courthouse needed to move. Photo / File
Fostering Central Mall and Trade Central for local retail demands, while continuing development at the Lakefront with a tourism focus and high-end accommodation would ensure more tourist dollars being spent, Heard said.
He believed Tutanekai St should be kept as foot traffic-only while considering a live transport link while at the same time, utilising vacant and partially occupied buildings for inner-city living.
"Promoting the conversion of inner-city buildings to residential apartments is a logical part of any solution."
Timber and a reflection of tikanga were also how Apa Architects and Project Managers partner Aladina Harunani envisioned a new city centre.
Aladina Harunani of Apa Architects and Project Managers wants to utilise the assets Rotorua has to create a vibrant CBD. Photo / File
He said CBD vibrancy would come from people on the streets but also in buildings carefully chosen to create positive spaces. The buildings he had crafted in his mind would form a three-in-one functional space designed with timber architecture at its core.
"The three functions of the buildings would be work, play and rest. This means people can stay on the upper floors while enjoying activities on the ground floor which could also lend itself to modern retail and office layouts."
Harunani said a natural spine existed as Tutanekai St with the lake at one end and the mountain ranges at the other. He said he would want to incorporate the love story of Hinemoa and Tutanekai through his work.
"Our most useful given is our lake and Mokoia Island. If we can orient our CBD towards the lake then inevitably any visitors would naturally be drawn to activities on the water and the land would merge in between.
"I would have environmentally friendly electrical waka trams that looped from car parking on the outside of the CBD and run through the streets that were all designed to be walking Eat Streat-like."
For Lease signs have been a common site in the CBD. Photo / File
Harunani hoped water waka taxis would also operate on the lake to link all marae and help to connect the story of Rotorua.
He believed Rotorua had an opportunity, as Dubai and Shanghai did, to create a lake-oriented CBD.
Rotorua Lakes Council is currently in the middle of developing a $40 million lakefront redevelopment.
The plan includes removing old buildings which are no longer safe or fit for purpose, enhancing the landscape so there are more places to play or sit and relax with friends and whanau, extending and enhancing the playground area, improving the lake edge and lake ecology, and constructing new car parks and public toilets.
The plan also includes a building site where investors could establish restaurants, cafes, kiosks and ticketing offices so there are more options for entertainment and fun at the lakefront.
Along with this, the council is revitalising Kuirau Park, the Sir Howard Morrison Centre and the Rotorua Museum.
Karen Hunt was a Rotorua Lakes councillor from 2007 to 2019 and held the inner city revitalisation portfolio for part of her career.
Ex-Rotorua Lakes councillor, Karen Hunt, who held the inner city revitalisation portfolio, said it was time to listen to new thinking. Photo / File
Hunt told the Rotorua Daily Post the city needed places for young people to live and also high-end apartments for those considering retirement.
"Post-Covid we have to decide what sort of city do we want to call home and it is up to all of us to create that.
"If we live lives remotely, whether it is by online shopping or distracting ourselves in another sense, then our cities will die. We need to be the ones that breathe life into them as well as those businesses who are courageous enough to set up."
Hunt said there would be a silver lining to the "very black cloud", but not without pain.
She said people needed to put their money where their mouth was and support businesses to survive.
Reg Hennessy, Hospitality New Zealand Rotorua branch president and owner of Hennessy's Irish Bar. Photo / File
Reg Hennessy, Hospitality New Zealand Rotorua branch president and owner of Hennessy's Irish Bar, said he would love to see all the invested parties coming together to develop a plan.
He believed the CBD needed to be a vibrant place for people to live in.
"Live, work from, play, the whole thing. And that would take up a lot of the poor old redundant real estate that is sitting around the town. Revitalise it a little bit.
"It really is the way of the future I think."
Hennessy said the city was short of housing and with many people returning to the country due to Covid-19, there was an opportunity to make the city attractive for young people.
