By ABIGAIL CASPARI in Rotorua
Management at Rotorua's Polynesian Spa are confident the late Catholic priest Father Mahoney would be impressed with the complex's newest addition.
The Priest Spa, which is named after Father Mahoney who camped on the site in the 1880s and swam in the watersto sooth his arthritic aches and pains, opened for business on Wednesday.
Managing Director Martin Lobb said he had tried out the three new pools, known as the Priest Spa, and believed Father Mahoney would be proud of them if he were around today.
The three pools replace the historic Radium and Priest pools which closed in August last year, following the death three months earlier of Wanganui artist Joanna Paul, whowas found face down in the Priest Pool.
The Radium and Priest pools were closed after higher than permissible hydrogen sulphide levels were found in the area.
The new pools are fed by thermal spring water pumped from the Radium spring.
The water is then passed through a hydrogen sulphide "scrubbing plant".
They have been given the tick of approval by inspectors from both Occupational Safety and Health and the Rotorua District Council.
The construction of the new pools, which cost just under $1 million, began in January.
The pools are built at a much higher level than the previous pools, giving bathers a stunning view of Lake Rotorua and its surrounds.
Night-time bathers can also enjoy "mood lighting" features.
Wooden seating has also been built around each of the pools.
"It [the Priest Spa] has added substantially to the great suite of products we can offer," Mr Lobb said.
Meanwhile, the complex is heading to the High Court at Auckland later this month to try and have a charge against it relating to the death of Ms Paul quashed.
Earlier this year the tourist attraction pleaded not guilty in the Rotorua District Court to a charge laid under the Health and Safety in Employment Act that, while in control of a place of work, it failed to take all practical steps to ensure hazards did not harm Ms Paul.
