Timaru Civic Trust: Strathallan Corner Toilets

Saturday, 17 May 2025

With the redevelopment of Strathallan Corner, it’s interesting to consider something of its past.

Older Timaru residents may recall that it was the former site of another place of public easement, the old underground men’s toilets.

While far from a glamorous subject, it reflects the practical needs of a community.

The pages of The Timaru Herald reveal much discussion about the construction of public conveniences on the corner going back to 1927.

The decision to go ahead was made by the Timaru Borough Council in 1929.

No doubt the proximity to public hotels — the Club Hotel (closed 1970), the Crown Hotel (closed 1984) — was an incentive.

The toilets themselves are still there, beneath the ground, repurposed by Alpine Energy as a service area. They’re nothing much to look at, utilitarian white subway tiles with a band of blue tiles halfway up the walls reflecting minimalist Art Deco influence.

A notable event in which the toilets played a peripheral role was the 1954 visit of Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation tour.

Her Majesty overnighted at the Grosvenor Hotel. The entrance to a gentleman’s convenience was regarded as inappropriate for the young Royal eyes.

Thus, the surface structure was camouflaged behind a festive riot of native greenery.

This was a popular approach nationwide.

As historian Jock Phillips wrote, “Screens were erected to hide unsightly buildings, and citizens were instructed when and how to plant blue lobelias, red salvias and white begonias’’.

Street access to the facility was demolished in 1985.