A site steeped in hospitality history has been chosen for Rotorua’s long-awaited new courthouse.
The site has been bought for $7.15 million but completion of the much-anticipated new courthouse is still five years away.
Members of the legal fraternity have called for a new courthouse for more than half a decade, with the conditions in the existing building described over the years as “feral”, “disgraceful” and a hindrance to speedy justice.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed it has bought 1130 Pukuatua St. The building is currently home to several businesses and organisations. These include former emergency housing facility The Grand Treasure Hotel — and Wilson’s Barber Shop, which has been at its Pukuatua St site for the past 33 years.
Ministry chief operating officer Carl Crafar said in a written statement to the Rotorua Daily Post the courthouse on the corner of Tutanekai and Arawa Sts was no longer fit for purpose and needed to be replaced.
Subject to funding approval, the ministry intended to build a new courthouse and had spent the past year looking for a suitable site.
Crafar said the large, flat site chosen was centrally located and accessible from both Pukuatua and Hinemoa Sts.
It was not yet known what the new building would look like and where the entrance would be.
The new court will include the existing High Court, District Court and relevant tribunals. It’s final design and build would take at least five years, Crafar said.
Coronial Services, including coroners, would be also accommodated as part of the development. Work continued to secure a stand-alone option or site for the Waiariki Māori Land Court.
The ministry would consult with iwi, the local community, the Rotorua Lakes Council, justice sector partners and the judiciary about the design, with the “safety needs for all participants, including victims” a top consideration.
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“We are in the very early stages of the process, and it was important to secure a physical site early on.”
He said the Grand Treasure Hotel on Pukuatua St had closed and alternative accommodation had been found for the people staying there.
The state of Rotorua’s courthouse hit headlines in 2018 when visiting Auckland barrister Sam Wimsett wrote to then-Courts Minister Andrew Little calling for urgent action. Wimsett described the conditions as “disgraceful”.
His calls were backed at the time by Rotorua Crown Solicitor Amanda Gordon, who described the court’s cells as “feral”.
Gordon told the Rotorua Daily Post yesterday a five-year wait seemed “optimistic” given funding for the build had not been approved and considering the economic climate.
She said, however, it was good progress to buy a site and she said the location was reasonable given it was near stakeholders.
“From a public perspective, it would be nice if it was out of town but the reality is it needs to be close to other infrastructure.”
According to Rotorua Daily Post records, the hotel site was previously the Hobb Knob Bar but that was replaced by the Grand Establishment in the mid-1970s after a fire destroyed the popular Grand Hotel a few doors up on the corner of Fenton and Hinemoa Sts.
The Grand Establishment site over the next few decades had various hospitality businesses such as Cobb & Co, The Cobb Bar, Wheelers, The Ice House, The Side Pocket Bar and Happy Days Restaurant.
Papatuanuku Support Services has been in the Hinemoa St side of the Grand Treasure building for the past two years. It held wānanga there for those in need in the city and provided a dinner kai service every weekday for, on average, 60 people a night.
General manager Renee Kingi said they had been told they could remain at the site for the next two years before the building would be demolished.
The organisation was in the process of finding new premises and she said the ministry had been supportive.
She said the building had a lot of history and many people had come in to share their memories.
Rotorua musician Bruce Macfarlane said the old Cobb Bar had surges of popularity from the 1970s through until the early 2000s.
He said many great names performed there including Sir Howard Morrison, the Senators and regular local acts such as John McRae.
Macfarlane said he met his now-wife, Leah, when he was a resident performer at the bar between 1993 and 1996. He went back to perform there in the early 2000s with Leah.
Macfarlane said hearing it would be pulled down was “bittersweet”.
“I’m pleased to see development but it’s a shame there has to be a courthouse. It would have been better if it was a new hotel or something.”
Wilson’s Barber Shop owner Glen Atkinson said the businesses moved to the site 33 years ago after starting on Fenton St in 1961.
He had owned the business for 15 years and said it was a shock to hear the building had sold.
He said they were looking for somewhere new to go but would worry about it early next year.
“I’m sad to see [the shop] go but at the end of the day it’s a new challenge for me and my bro (Cy Atkinson).”
House of Elliott owner Craig Elliott said it was a good space.
“It’s no different from it being 60m down the road in the other direction. Ultimately it is good if the court and its staff have a facility they are proud to work in. It’s been unfair where they have worked for a long time.”
He said he hoped the plans included internal parking for staff.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
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