ROTORUA BLUE BATHS

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1931, Page 10

ROTORUA BLUE BATHS

ONE POOL COMPLETED. MIXED BATHING FACILITIES. Rotorua, Dec. 19. The opening to the public on Monday of the first section of the new Blue Baths will mark the commencement of an important stage in . the development of Rotorua as a holiday resort, the Tourist Department haying decided to make the new pool available for mixed bathing, facilities for which have never previously been provided. The complete plans for the Blue Baths provide for tw>» pools, a standard swimming bath 100 ft in length, with a maximum depth of water of 7ft, for the use of adults, and a somewhat smaller popl especially designed to cater for- the children. The' smaller pool has been completed, and as it will; when filled to the maximum level, provide a sufficient depth of water, it has been decided to make it available for adult mixed bathing and thus fill a long-felt gap in the recreational facilities at Rotorua. The ladies’ and men’s swimming pools in the Ward Baths are deservedly popular with visitors, but they were not designed to cater for mixed bathing, for which in recent years there has been a steadily-growing demand. The new. bath is therefore certain to prove one of the most popular of the Government’s enterprises in Rotorua.

The building housing the bath has been designed on modern lines. The stonework of the external walls and a colonnade of eight fluted pillars, which eventually will divide the smaller pool from the larger one, is tinted a pale terracotta, thus giving a sunny. atmosphere without glare. The dressing rooms, showers and other conveniences are finished in a marble surfacing and are de_signed in accordance with the most modern practice to give patrons the niaxiipum of comfort and convenience. Around the bath itself, which is open to the sky, there is a broad-space with seating accommodation, while the end opposite the colonnade is closed, with a semi-cirqular court with a miniature fountain in the centre. » The court is partially roofed with heavy beams, forming a pergola. Dr. J. D. C. Duncan, Government balneologist at Rotorua, expressed the opinion when interviewed that the opening of the new Blue Bath and the inauguration of mixed bathing marked a further stage in the progress of Rotorua. “With its unique facilities for health and sport Rotorua is rapidly becoming the holiday playground of the Dominion,” he said, “and this added pleasure of community swimming will give a fresh impetus to the holiday spirit among both visitors and residents.’’

Mr. L. J. Bayfeild, district manager of the Tourist Department, said the department had now provided Rotorua with better facilities in the way of mineral water bathing pools than were to be found, anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, there being now available the ladies’ and men’s swimming baths at the Ward Baths and the mixed bathing pool at the new Blue Baths. “The opening of the new pool is another step toward the realisation of the Government’s plan to provide Rotorua with really comprehensive bathing and swimming facilities in accordance with the most modern ideas,” said Mr. Bayfeild. “It is hoped that the whole of the new Blue Bath building, which besides a standard swimming bath suitable for championship swimming carnivals, will contain an attractive and luxuriously furnished social lounge and a large tea-room, as well as other modern amenities, will fee ready for next season.