Former home of RSA up for sale

FOR SALE: The former home of the Rotorua RSA on Haupapa St will go under the hammer at auction on September 3. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

The Haupapa St building that until recently housed the Rotorua RSA has been placed on the market for sale, less than a week after an emotional ensign ceremony outside the building.

Bayleys Rotorua has confirmed the building will go under the hammer at auction on September 3.

Bayleys salesman Mark Rendell said the commercial B zoning of the property would allow a number of uses, including conversion into office space, a restaurant, or tourist business.

But Mr Rendell believed the building, a stone's throw away from the Rotorua Lakes Council offices, could also serve in a more civic role - as the new home for the Rotorua courthouse.

Moving the courthouse from Tutanekai St would allow for easier access to the nearby police station, as well as opening up a major inner city intersection, he said.

"They [the council] are saying our main spine is Tutanekai St, and they have got that courthouse on that prominent corridor," he said.

In February 2011, then council chief executive Peter Guerin also floated the possibility to councillors of moving the court building to the Haupapa St site.

But yesterday a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said there were no plans to move the Rotorua courthouse.

Mr Rendell also believed the council itself would be an ideal tenant for the building, and suggested it as a potential new home for organisations based in the to-be-demolished Community House further up Haupapa St.

The council's chief financial officer, Thomas Colle, said the council had made no decision to purchase the RSA building and held no view on potential future use.

Councillor Karen Hunt, portfolio lead for the council's inner city revitalisation programme, would not be drawn on her preference for the future of the RSA building, but said councillors were "good neighbours".

The Rotorua RSA was forced to leave the Haupapa St building in July following months of uncertainty caused by its financial position.

Last Sunday, RSA members gathered outside the building for an ensign ceremony marking the association's 99th anniversary.

They had been given a one-off loan from the council, secured against the sale of the building, to ensure its short-term survival.

RSA executive Julie Hill was philosophical about the building going on the market. "It's just another stage in the process of moving forward and getting it sold, getting the debt paid, and starting afresh," she said.