Kuirau Reserve : a brief history
Kuirau Reserve is also known as Kuirau Park to locals and
tourists alike as a popular place to soak one’s tired feet, relax with a picnic
and entertain their children in the playground.
I have researched some background history to create for the reader a
picture of this well known locale.
Kuirau Reserve was gifted to the Crown as a recreation reserve by Ngati
Whakaue, at the same time as:
Sanatorium
Reserve, Pukeroa Reserve, Whakarewarewa Thermal Springs Reserve c1881 (Ohinemuri
Gazette, 1908).
Stafford (1986) mentions in his narrative that:
In 1893 a syndicate with £5000 planned
to establish a bathing pavilion, and in 1896 C.A.C Clarke proposed to
aerate the waters from the Kuirau Spring & other springs as a heath drink,
and by this time paths had been cut through the scrub and Ohinemutu residents
had cleared an area of scrub and built baths.
Stafford says that by the early 1900s, tourists flocked to
the reserve to swim in the Lobster Pool, so called due to the colour of their
skin after spending some time bathing there.
Sadly some people stayed too long and it is suspected were overcome by
the heat and drowned. Other visitors to
the reserve were also scalded when not watching where they put their feet,
strayed into either a pool or one of the streams flowing away from the pool
Eruptions were known to occur in the reserve, the first recorded in 1902, then 1906, 1930s, 1960s- 1980s and the one I remember most vividly was in 2001!
The park was given its first architect’s design by Mr F
Tschopp in c1931 who presented it to the then Borough Council. His design
included sports grounds (Auckland Star, 1931).
In 1938 an article appeared in the Bay of Plenty Times which
talks about the council workers finding stumps and logs which at some stage long
ago, had been buried beneath the surface. These stacks of wood were kept and
the reporters (unnamed) suggest that it will make good firewood:
The species of timber were “rimu,
white pine and tanekaha” (Bay of Plenty Times, 1938).
A newspaper article stated that:
The sports grounds were not
officially started until c1944 when a cricket pitch composed of a hard claylike
substance known as Tarawera Ash, but the cricket grounds were still to be
completed in 1945, and a working bee was called for asking the Athletic Club
and cricket teams to participate (Daily Post, 1994).
Little more is reported regarding the grounds or park until
1959 when the Jaycees put in 300 man hours clearing scrub and blackberry.
‘The piece that borders Ranolf
Street stretching from the northern extent of the park proper to the old
Lobster swimming pool (Daily Post, 1959).
In this aerial photograph from 1959 you can see the sports grounds set in a triangle to the south of the Kuirau Spring.
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Rotorua, Bay of Plenty Region. Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs. Ref: WA-50072. Alexander Turnbull Library |
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John
Smale “engineer, owner, driver” Smale J. (1961) Toot-n-Whistle. Kete Rotorua. http://rotorua.kete.net.nz |
A newspaper article in a local Rotorua newspaper reported
that:
In 1963 the Rotorua Lions Club
gifted a Traction Engine for the children’s playground, this magnificent relic
of days gone by was enjoyed by thousands of Rotorua children and visitors to
the park. It was removed from the park in June 1988, and moved to MOTAT in
Auckland. (Daily Post, 1988)
Also at the park at this time was the tank as shown below
and an aeroplane, which I remember playing on as a child.
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AAQT 6539 W3537 59 / A77131 archway.archives.govt.nz/ |
In 1967 an artificial geyser was engineered by the Asst.
Hospital Engineer, Louis Vause. He diverted waste heat from the hospital’s heat
exchange bore. The new ‘geyser’ was officially opened by the Mayor, Murray
Linton. (Rotorua Photo News, 1967)
Rotorua
Photo News, 15 Dec 1967, page 83
Rotorua Library, Rotorua Heritage
Collection.
In 1970 some thermal activity in the park gave two Auckland
boys a fright, when a mud pool erupted nearly 60ft in the air.
Tons of mud lay around the pool
and hung from a 30ft wattle tree nearby. It is reported to be about 50 yards
from a “giant thermal eruption four years ago” (Daily Post, 1970)
Post written by Alison Leigh, with thanks to Alexander
Turnbull Library, Archives NZ, Papers Past
References (available from the Heritage
Collections, Rotorua Library)
Stafford, D. M. (1986). The
founding years in Rotorua: a history of events to 1900. Ray Richards.
Stafford, D.M. (1988). The
new century in Rotorua: a history of events from 1900. Ray Richards.
Rotorua Photo News.
(1967) Round Rotorua. Rotorua Photo News.
Daily Post. (1959, April 8). Jaycees cleared park: Council
lets it revert to scrub. Daily Post.
Daily Post. (1970, August 26). Kuirau Park eruption. Daily Post.
Daily Post. (1988, June 10). Old timer needs TLC. Daily Post.
Smale J.
(2012). Biography. Toot-n-Whistle. Kete Rotorua. http://rotorua.kete.net.nz/site/topics/show/177-toot-n-whistle
Papers Past:
Auckland Star. (1931, Nov 28). Beautifying Rotorua. Auckland Star. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19311128.2.67?end_date=31-12-1931&items_per_page=10&query=+kuirau+reserve&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1931
Bay of Plenty Times. (1938, February 6). Items of interest:
Buried forest unearthed. Bay of Plenty
Times. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT19380203.2.10?items_per_page=10&query=buried+forest+items+interest+&snippet=true&title=BOPT
