Lake Lodge demolished as earthquake risk, no plans for site

A former B&B near the lake front has been demolished, and the firm responsible says there are no immediate plans to replace or sell it.

Developer Jamie Campbell of R&B Consultants said the Lake Lodge Bed and Breakfast, which he believed was built in the 1960s, was demolished because it was an earthquake risk.

"We just had to shut it down really," he said of the prime real estate, 200m from Lake Rotorua.

"Honestly, all we've done is pull the building down at this stage. We've got no time frames at all on what we're going to do, whatever we do."

Mr Campbell said they hadn't looked into either constructing a new building or selling the land.

"We haven't even gone down that track yet. So what we're doing is getting rid of the building and we'll see what happens there."

The three-star B&B, at 1024 Rangiuru St, has had its website taken down and hasn't traded for a number of years. The site described the lodge as "luxurious quality at an affordable price". Its Trip Advisor review page had an average rating of 4.5 stars, with 69 per cent of the reviews rating it as excellent, and a further 29 per cent as very good.

A local resident, who didn't want to be named, said the building's walls had probably seen more than a thing or two.

"It could probably tell a few stories," he said.

"I speak to people who say, 'Oh I stayed there [Lake Lodge] once'. One couple in their mid-50s or 60s said they stayed there for their honeymoon 30-odd years ago.

"It was quite posh then, and it was reasonably cheap accommodation for someone to have a honeymoon. In the latter years it's been a bit chequered, though."

He said in the few years since it had been vacant, people had been breaking in and it had become dangerous - enough so that a renovation would be too costly and it had to be pulled down.