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Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa

Front view of the timber-framed Rotorua Museum, previously the Bath House, from the Government Gardens.
Former name	Rotorua Museum of Art & History Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa
Established	November 1979 (1979-11)
Location	Rotorua
Coordinates	38°8′8.2″S 176°15′32.4″E / 38.135611°S 176.259000°E / -38.135611; 176.259000
Type	Art museum, Taonga, Social History
Director	Stewart Brown
Website	www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz
Heritage New Zealand – Category 1
Designated	4 April 1985
Reference no.	141

The Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa is a local museum and art gallery in the Government Gardens near the centre of Rotorua, New Zealand.

The Museum was listed on the Heritage New Zealand list of historic sites as a Category 1 Historic Place (places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value') in 1985.

The Rotorua Museum today

The Rotorua District Council runs the Museum. The Rotorua Museum is a half-timbered building that has been called the most impressive Elizabethan Revival building in New Zealand and the most photographed building in New Zealand.

The Museum was closed in 2016 due to not meeting New Zealand earthquake standards. In 2023, the Rotorua Lakes Council committed to continuing and completing repairs to the building to enable it to reopen. Construction began in June 2024, and works are expected to be complete in 2027.

Collections, exhibitions and research

The Museum's collections include:

1. Taonga Māori (The Museum cares for over 2,000 taonga (treasure) in their collection).
2. Fine Arts
3. Photographic
4. Social History
5. Natural Environment
6. Ethnology

As of 2021, the Museum collection owned 2490 artworks; approximately 55% were gifted, 45% purchased, and 1% commissioned. There are over 70,000 images depicting Rotorua in the collection. Overall, there is an estimated total of 55,000 items in the collection.

Library and archives

A large majority of the library collection is dedicated to the history and people of Te Arawa and the Rotorua district. The collection comprises rare books, historic maps and plans, local publications, local business and organizational records, diaries, manuscripts, and documentation related to the history of the Bath House. It also includes files from previous Museum exhibitions and exhibition catalogues.

History

Early history

In the late nineteenth century, there was growing interest among tourists to visit and bathe in the thermal pools located near the Pink and White Terraces, and thus, the government established Rotorua as a tourist resort from 1880.

On 22 November 1880, Judge F.D. Fenton met with 47 Māori leaders to discuss a proposal supporting the creation of a township, resulting in Ngāti Whakaue gifting 50 acres of land along the southern area of Lake Rotorua. This area, formerly known as the Sanatorium Reserve, is today named the Government Gardens, and is the land that the Rotorua Museum stands on. The gift by Ngāti Whakaue was 'hei oranga mo nga iwi katoa o te Ao' - 'for the benefit of the people of the world.'

The Bath House

In Europe, spas had become fashionable meeting places for the middle and upper classes to treat illnesses, diseases, or simply as a social activity. As such, the New Zealand government hoped that the development of a Bath House would appeal to wealthy tourists, particularly from the Northern hemisphere, who could afford to stay in Rotorua for two or three weeks and use the baths to treat their physical or psychological needs.

The newly-created Department of Tourist and Health Resorts, established in 1902, was tasked with constructing the Bath House, which took two years to build, between 1906 and 1908, and cost £40,000. The Bath House opened in 1908 by Prime Minister Joseph Ward. It was New Zealand's first spa facility, and was noted as the first major investment in the New Zealand tourism industry by the government.

The Bath House was known for its therapeutic treatments using water sourced from surrounding thermal springs. The bath treatments were thought to be able to successfully treat Rheumatism, Indigestion, Constipation, Obesity, Sciatica, Nerve Trouble, Spinal Curvature, and Neuritis. The north wing accommodated male patients, while women were treated in the south wing.

Efforts were made from the beginning to attract international interest, with Admiral Sperry, the commander of the American Atlantic Fleet, invited to participate in the opening ceremony. At its peak, it attracted between 60,000 to 80,000 visitors annually. These numbers reflect the popularity of the site given that Rotorua's population was 4,700 in 1926, growing to 12,302 by 1956 - a decade before the Bath House closed.

Rotorua's first balneologist

In 1902, Dr Arthur Wohlmann, an expert in balneotherapy, was employed by the New Zealand government, subsequently leaving his home in London to move to Rotorua. Wohlmann had worked at the Royal Hospital at Bath and was to bring his experience and expertise to advise on the development of thermal spas.

Despite Wohlmann being considered the most distinguished balneologist available, he was fired by the government in 1912 due to the fact they could pay a younger and less experienced balneologist for half the price.

By the 1940s, spa treatments greatly declined in popularity, with medical professionals advising that they should be complementary to work done in hospitals, rather than relying on them as a cure-all solution. Rotorua's new Director of Physical Medicine, Dr. G.A.Q Lennane, condemned the promotion of spas as substantial treatment for illnesses, stating that the spa conception was responsible for the delayed knowledge of the treatment of rheumatic diseases. They called for the exploitation of Rotorua's mineral waters to stop and for rational science to be used instead. By 1963, the Rotorua City Council took ownership of the Bath House, and in 1966, all treatments were transferred to the nearby Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Concurrently, due to the sulfur corroding the metal piping, the building became too difficult to maintain, and it closed down in 1966.

The Museum's origins

The Rotorua Museum is now housed in the former Bath House building. 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 Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa.

Up until 1990, there was a nightclub and two licensed restaurants, one upstairs and one downstairs, that occupied parts of this building.

Gallery

• A historic view of the museum building when it was the Bath House.
• Oblique view of the museum, with croquet lawn in front.

References

1. "Welcome to Heritage New Zealand". Welcome to Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 2025-01-13.
2. "The Bath House (Former)". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
3. Kirkby-McLeod, Libby. "Why are some of our most famous buildings just sitting empty?". RNZ. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
4. "Rotorua Museum to remain closed following detailed assessment - Rotorua Museum". Rotorua Museum. 2017-07-07. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
5. "Rotorua Museum: Council votes to restore and re-open Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa". RNZ. 2023-08-03. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
6. "'Monumental': Funding secured to fix and reopen Rotorua Museum". NZ Herald. 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
7. "Redevelopment of Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa - Rotorua Lakes Council". www.rotorualakescouncil.nz. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
8. ^ "Rotorua Museum - Rotorua Lakes Council". www.rotorualakescouncil.nz. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
9. "Collection". Rotorua Museum. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
10. "Official Information Request - Art Collection - Rotorua Lakes Council". www.rotorualakescouncil.nz. 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
11. "Explore the collection - Rotorua Museum". Rotorua Museum Collection Online. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
12. "Archives and Library". Rotorua Museum. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
13. ^ "Welcome to Heritage New Zealand". Welcome to Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
14. ^ Somerville, Ann (1997). Taking the Cure: The Story of the Rotorua Bath House. Rotorua: Rotorua Museum of Art & History Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa. ISBN 0-473-05033-1.
15. ^ "The Thermal History Of Rotorua". Pure Source. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
16. ^ "The Spa". Rotorua Museum. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
17. ^ "Fleet Arrangements". New Zealand Herald. July 18, 1908. p. 6. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
18. "Rotorua Museum website".
19. "The Bath House Story". Rotorua Museum. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
20. "Page 4 Advertisements Column 4". Wanganui Chronicle. May 13, 1915. p. 4. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
21. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Population and society". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
22. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Arthur Wohlmann, government balneologist". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
23. "PARS ABOUT PEOPLE". Observer. October 26, 1912. p. 4. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
24. ^ "Department of Health Annual Report of the Director-General of Health". Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1949 Session I. 1949 – via PapersPast.
25. About Us, Rotorua Museum, New Zealand.