Rotorua Museum

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, Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand.

Front view of the timber-framed Rotorua Museum, previously the Bath House, from the Government Gardens.

The museum is housed in the former Bath House building which was opened in 1908 and is noted as the first major investment in the New Zealand tourism industry by the government.[1] The Bath House is a half-timbered building that has been called the most impressive Elizabethan Revival building in New Zealand.[2]

The museum is currently closed as of 18 November 2016 due to not meeting stringent NZ earthquake standards and will remain so for the foreseeable future.[3]

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.[4]

The museum is run by the Rotorua District Council. It has collections covering fine arts, photography, social history, and Taonga objects from the Māori culture.[4]

Early Thermal Bathing In Rotorua

Early Māori in the area the iwi of Te Arawa had utilised the natural geothermal features since arriving in the early 1300s, the area was also abundant in lakes, rivers and streams.

  • 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. "Rotorua Museum website".
  2. "The Bath House (Former)". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  3. "Rotorua Museum to remain closed following detailed assessment - Rotorua Museum". Rotorua Museum. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  4. About Us, Rotorua Museum, New Zealand.

Further reading

Rev. J.S. Neil (July–December 1913), "Brighter Britain", Theosophical Path Magazine, pp. 19–25 & 90–98, retrieved 16 March 2012

Arthur S Wohlmann (1914), The Mineral Waters and Spas of New Zealand, Wellington: John MacKay, Government Printer

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