The former men’s toilet, found in the triangle at the Taranaki Street end of Courtenay Place, is one of the oldest buildings in the vicinity. It has been heavily modified and now houses a Pizza and Gelato kiosk.
Courtenay Place was a busy tram route and the first public conveniences are likely to have been built in about c.1895. The demolition or removal of the toilets was problematic for local hotel proprietor, D. Sullivan, who complained to the town clerk that the public had been making ‘a general convenience of my premises for their personal comfort. I feel that the authorities should relieve matters somewhat’.
Work began on the new public conveniences in 1910 and the construction was finished the following year. The tender documents are dated 7 September 1910 and a drainage plan indicates that the work was completed in March 1911. The City Engineer, William Hobbard Morton, drew the plans and the construction was carried out by contractors Frederick George Mace and James Nicholson. The toilets were built partly underground with an entrance from both the Courtenay Place and Taranaki Street ends. The walls were constructed in brick with a concrete roof on steel joints. All walls, floor, and roof were covered with mineral asphalt with the floors also being coated with red arkilite. The toilets included six urinals, three toilets and an attendant’s room. The exterior had two cast iron lamp standards and was surrounded by a cast iron fence. The toilets were kept clean by a custodian but as the conveniences were frequented mostly by patrons of the local hotels they soon gained a reputation as a “rendezvous for undesirables, more especially is this so at 6 o’clock, when the hotel in the vicinity has been closed’. According to the custodian they gathered there to drink beer and he was unable to stop them from doing so. The police were asked to investigate and deal with the situation.
By the early 1960s it was reported to the Council by the City Engineer that toilets had become antiquated and it was probable that they would need to be relocated for a new intersection to be laid out. In 1964 and 1965, the City Engineer again reported on the state of the toilets, noting that they were difficult to maintain and were badly sited. He stated that a triangle site was available between Dixon and Manners Street, and that a modern ground level structure was needed.
Despite these reports the toilets remained. From the 1970s onwards many unfavourable letters were sent to the Council regarding the toilets, and these continued for the next two decades. Up until the 1990s it had been expected that the toilets would be combined with the new complex being built at Te Aro Park, but it was decided that they should be renewed or replaced. All the while, the newspapers had been reporting disparagingly about the toilets and the clientele who frequented them. It was decided in 1994 by the City Council to close the toilets.
In 1997 Wellington City Council held a workshop to attempt to find a new use for the site. Despite this the building remained empty for many years. Several applications were made to the Wellington City Council to adapt the building between 2000 and 2010. These adaptations ranged from recreating the building as a hub for multi-media artists, to a wine bar. In 2011 the site was leased to Scopa Café Cucina for development as a pizza and gelato kiosk.
These public toilets were one of the last examples of underground public conveniences to be found in New Zealand, and were an important aspect of the social scene of Wellington City. The toilets are associated with the development of Courtenay Place as an entertainment district since their construction in 1911. Their location is also an indicator of the prominence that the tramway system once had in the city and the triangular site is a visual reminder of the original layout of the city.
The building has now been modified to house a pizza and gelato kiosk and elements of the exterior are all that remain. The exterior façade has been restored to a high level as an element of the adaptation of the building. All interiors were removed, with the cast iron fences and the prismatic skylights being preserved by Wellington City Council.
