Ngāruawāhia's historic Plunket and Ladies' Rest Rooms have hit the market for sale.
The Art Deco building at 31 Jesmond Street, once the town's only public toilets for women, has been sitting empty since 2017, but could be key to the town centre's revival.
The owner, Waikato Council, is looking for a buyer who can redevelop the property and has pointed to the RV of $410,000 as a price guide.
The authority's acting strategic property manager, Jay Lee, told OneRoof that buyers would need to spend money on the main brick building to bring it back to life, but noted that it had recently received a C seismic rating.
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The Ngāruawāhia Centennial Memorial Plunket and Ladies' Rest Rooms date back to the 1940s, with the community raising 880 pounds ($112,000) to fund the construction.
It was one of several rest rooms established across New Zealand to provide public conveniences for women. The buildings became places where women could also attend to their babies, have a cup of tea, and get changed if going to an event in town.
Newcastle-Ngāruawāhia general ward councillor Eugene Patterson said the building had a special place in Ngāruawāhia's history.
"While the building's next chapter may look different, we'd love to see that community spirit continue, bringing life and activity back to this important site."
Among the responses to the sale on the council’s social media page are suggestions that the building could be used as a community centre, an art gallery or a cafe-restaurant.
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NAI Harcourts Hamilton managing director Mike Neale said it was unusual for a property like this to come up for sale, especially one that was so well-known. “Everybody talks about the old Plunket building.”
Neale has lived in Ngāruawāhia for 30 years and said a lot was going for it, pointing to the new residential developments drawing in first home buyers and families from neighbouring Hamilton.
“There are a lot of people who see the opportunity in Ngāruawāhia,” he said. “There’s a great fruit and vege place, and we recently got a new kebab shop and a Chinese takeaway. The quality is increasing.”
The town, which has a population of under 10,000, was lacking professional services such as a lawyer or accountant, he said, so there could be opportunities to turn the rest rooms into an office space.
“It would be great to see something that protects the heritage and character of the building, but sort of changes the use.”
His agency had just sold Durham Precinct, a stretch of land in the town operating a marketplace with eateries and office spaces. He said interest in the property had been huge, with owner-occupiers, developers and investors all vying to own it. A local church had been the eventual buyer and planned to keep the tenants while also using the site for its own purposes in the future.
Neale said it would be hard to put a price on the rest rooms but said a nearby building with a retail space downstairs and an apartment upstairs had recently sold for just under $600,000.
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