Government Gardens

The Rotorua Museum, housed in the former Bath House building, looks over the Government Gardens. There are sports facilities, including the Blue Baths swimming pool, a bowling green, and a croquet lawn. There is also a bandstand. The Polynesian Spa is close by, beside Lake Rotorua.[1]

Part of the site was known to the Māori people as Paepaehakumanu and the northern part as Motutara.[2] The area known as Paepaehakumanu was a bird-snaring ground, which led to its name.[3] The area is of historical significance to the local Maori, with battles having been fought here.[1] The Maori gave 50 acres of the land to the British Crown in the late 1800s.[2] The combined Paepaehakumanu and Motutara area became known as the Sanatorium Reserve, or more commonly, the Government Gardens.[2]

The Government of New Zealand opened a large bath house here in 1908. A second building, the Blue Baths, opened in 1933, amidst much controversy, as mixed bathing was accommodated.[1][4] The Blue Baths were closed in 1982, and restored in 1999–2000.[5] The original 1908 Bath House closed to bathing in 1966. The building was extensively renovated in 1995 and converted into a museum.[6]

Heritage registrations

A number of items are covered by formal registrations by Heritage New Zealand. The former Bath House, now Rotorua Museum, and the Blue Baths have Category I registrations.[6][5] Four structures have Category II registrations, including the Prince's Arch and Gateway which was built for the 1901 royal visit of the Duke and Duchess of York; this structure is now unique in New Zealand.[7][8][9][10] The area as a whole is also covered by a Historic Area registration.[2]

Photo	Name	Category	Description
	Former Bath House, now Rotorua Museum	Category I	half-timbered Elizabethan Revival building[6]
	Blue Baths	Category I	Spanish Mission-style bath house[5]
	Prince's Arch and Gateway	Category II	archway resembling a royal crown built for the royal visit in 1901[7]
	Te Runanga Tea Pavilion and Ticket Office	Category II	tea kiosk and an adjacent small octagonal building that served as a ticket office[8]
	Rotunda	Category II	band rotunda[9]
	Gardener's Cottage	Category II	cottage for the reserve's gardener[10]
	Rotorua Government Gardens	Historic Area	heritage registration covering the whole setting[2]
	Arawa War Memorial	Historic Monument	World War I memorial by William Henry Feldon unveiled in 1927 by the Duke of York (later King George VI.)[11]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Government Gardens, Rotorua.

38°08′06″S 176°15′29″E