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, 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] and the most photographed building in New Zealand.^[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]

The museum was closed in 2016 due to not meeting New Zealand earthquake standards.^[5] In 2023 the Rotorua Lakes Council committed to continuing and completing repairs to the building to enable it to reopen.^[6]

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. "Rotorua Museum website".
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. About Us, Rotorua Museum, New Zealand.
5. "Rotorua Museum to remain closed following detailed assessment - Rotorua Museum". Rotorua Museum. 7 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
6. "Rotorua Museum: Council votes to restore and re-open Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa". RNZ. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.

Further reading

Rev. J.S. Neil (July–December 1913), "Brighter Britain", Theosophical Path Magazine, pp. 19–25 & 90–98, ISBN 9780766180444, retrieved 16 March 2012

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

External links

• Official Rotorua Museum website
• Rotorua Museum Online Collection

38.1356°S 176.2591°E / -38.1356; 176.2591