The Art Deco public toilets block in Severn St has been
put on a list of properties potentially for sale by the Waitaki
District Council.

The Oamaru stone building, with separate toilets for men and
women on each side, were a popular comfort stop for motorists
on the Christchurch to Dunedin route until it closed about
three years ago and people were directed to other toilets in
Oamaru.

However, some still stop, only to find they have to go
elsewhere.

The council, as part of decisions on Wednesday on its 10-year
long-term plan, voted to put the toilets and associated land
on its list of potential property sales.

That does not necessarily mean the property will be sold.

It is ”a potential property for sale” and any final
decisions to dispose of it will have to be made by the assets
committee and full council.

Various suggestions had been made for possible use of the
toilets, including a tearooms or shop but some people want
them reopened.

Before that is even considered, the council also needs to
verify ownership and status of the land.

Cr Peter Garvan made an impassioned plea not to put the
building on the list.

He believed the council should look at the whole area where
the toilets were, including the Opera House, Centennial
Building and Oamaru Courthouse, before making any decisions
about disposing of property.

”This recommendation has come out of the blue without a full
background paper,” he said.

But Cr Jim Hopkins emphasised it was only being considered as
a potential sale and its disposal was not predetermined.

It is not known when the toilets were built, but it could
have been about the same time as the neighbouring Art Deco
Oamaru stone Centennial Memorial building, which was opened
in 1941 as a ”Ladies’ Rest Room and Plunket Rooms”, built
by the Waitaki County Council and Oamaru Borough Council to
mark the 1840-1940 North Otago centenary.