Parnell Baths mural in for makeover

By WAYNE THOMPSON

For 45 years the trim, athletic swimmers in the Parnell Baths mural have reflected Aucklanders' love of exercising outdoors.

But lately, the mural's message of health, energy and fun has been dimmed by the ravages of weather, vandals and neglect.

Bald patches appeared as hundreds of coloured glass chips forming the mosaic fell out of their crumbling mortar bed.

Elsewhere, the chips of blue, green, yellow, orange, purple/black and white lost their sparkle as paint and stain peeled off, moss and grime gathered and graffiti vandals attacked.

Despite needing about $62,000 of repairs, the mural has been deemed worthy of a place in a new-look Parnell Baths.

Its restoration is included in the Auckland City Council's $4.2 million programme to upgrade the baths in time for summer.

Fixed to the outside walls of the changing room building, the mural was designed as an integral part of a 1950s revamp of the baths - an Auckland institution since 1913.



It was in two parts - male figures along the wall of the male changing rooms, female figures along the female changing rooms, and the baths office entrance in between.

Artist James Turkington designed the mural in 1957 with help from Tibor Donner, who was the senior architect for the city council.

They were possibly influenced by a Henri Matisse work, The Swimming Pool.

The mural was made in 52 panels and Ray Salisbury, of Images in Glass, removed all of them for the current restoration job.

He said yesterday that it was slow, heavy work.

Each panel is about 1.2m wide and 1.3cm high and needed two men to lift it.

Mr Salisbury said the panels were delicate despite their bulk. They had a backing of old fibrolite sheets, which had warped, and the mortar holding the glass chips had cracked.

A 9mm compressed board was being glued to the backs of the panels to give them strength and make them weatherproof.

Antony Matthews, architect for the baths redevelopment, said the mural was one of the city's few surviving examples of collaboration between architects and artists.

Art works were rare on Auckland public buildings, he said, because so many murals had been removed, covered, or their buildings demolished.

Irish-born James Turkington died in 1979. Many of his major murals were lost or destroyed, including those on the 1ZB Durham St studios, the Automobile Association building, De Bretts Hotel and the Auckland Building Centre.

Mr Donner came from Hungary at 17 years old and spent most of his career at the Auckland City Council.

He retired in 1967.