Te Arawa/Ngati Whakaue representative Fred McRae has been working with Museum staff and exhibition developers Story!Inc for over 12 months researching the taonga and assisting with approaches to the relevant institutions. 

”My work has been focused on suitable pieces that will enhance the Museum,” says Fred. 

“I research the provenance and the whakapapa to descendants of the carvers and weavers and look at the context and stories associated with the objects.” 

Fred’s work is undertaken in liaison with Story!Inc to ensure that the story will be told sensitively but with interest and entertainment in mind as well.  Through this process there is also careful communication with Museum staff and the Pukenga Koeke (Rotorua Museum’s committee of Te Arawa Elders) to ensure the correct linkages are made.

The taonga being sourced will bring to life a number of great Te Arawa stories and some particularly striking pieces will provide visual impact.  But as Rotorua Museum Director Greg McManus explains, securing the objects for display is not easy. 

“Negotiating the loans is a very long process which started well before the physical work on the building.  We are thankful for the strong support from Te Arawa in this process and grateful for the co-operation of the museums we have been working with. It is not always easy for museums to agree to loans of significant objects from their collections, especially if they are on display in those institutions, but it is our job to support the aspirations of Te Arawa in securing the return of their taonga to Rotorua so future generations of local children can see the works of their ancestors without having to travel to other cities.”

This wing was made up of inferior structures built in 1911 and 1983.  Some of these additions were not in keeping with the original intentions for the building’s design and other parts were in poor condition.   The demolition was a precise and revealing process.  As the dismantling progressed, contractors were able to explore and assess areas of the Bath House not previously accessible. Great care also had to be taken to ensure the features of the building that were to be retained were not damaged.

Another significant part of the Stage III project so far has been the underpinning of the existing building.  Whilst largely unseen, this process was vital to strengthen and stabilise the aging Bath House and the thermal ground that it stands on.

 With the underpinning completed, the long but exciting phase of rebuilding and extending the wing now begins.  The outer shell of the wing is expected to be completed by April 2011 with another four months for the internal fit. The completed new wing wing will open to the public in August 2011.

The original gable facade remains in place.

The 1912 dormer window is removed.

The demolition is complete.

Stage III is the most significant period of construction that the Bath House building has seen since it opened to the public on August 13th 1908. Five major additions or alterations have taken place in the last 101 years and now this final phase will see the building completed to the original footprint proposed by Dr Arthur Wohlmann.

The south wing of the Bath House was the most incomplete section of the building and despite additions in 1911 and 1983 significant work is still required to fulfil Wohlmann’s proposal. Construction is expected to take 22 months with an additional four months required for internal fit out. Stage III will provide an extra 1260m² of floor space. In addition to two new galleries for temporary exhibitions, the existing south wing exhibitions will be redeveloped and extended to provide an enhanced museum experience.

The redevelopment provides the museum with an exciting opportunity to re-look at it its exhibition content, flow and design. “We are effectively starting with a blank canvas,” says Deputy Director Cherie Meecham, who will lead the installation of the exhibition spaces. “It is a unique opportunity to take the best of our existing exhibitions and enhance them with new stories and interpretive techniques. We can also address issues of layout and flow without the constraints of existing structures”.

The Maori Battalion and Te Arawa exhibitions are currently being relocated to the Rotorua Trust Galleries (north wing) and will reopen to the public before the end of May. A new Maori Battalion cinema experience has already been constructed and is operating as normal.

The last of the south wing exhibitions, the Tarawera exhibition, will be relocated in early 2010. At this point the south wing doors will be shut and will not re-open again until August 2011 when the new exhibitions will be opened to the public.

The north wing exhibitions and Rotorua Stories cinema experience will not be affected by the construction. As a result of this careful planning visitors will be able to see all the exhibitions they would normally experience, just in a different place.

A significant number of local Rotorua businesses are expected to secure sub-contract work on the approximately $9 million construction programme.