Early Napier The Ahuriri area’s rivers, wetlands, lagoons and fertile land produced important resources, making the area an attractive place to live. Settlement is thought to have begun in the twelfth or thirteenth century and Ngāti Kahungunu became the dominant iwi from the sixteenth century. There were several pā at what became Port Ahuriri and Napier, including an island pā, Te Pakake, just west of Mataruahou island (Scinde Island, later Napier/Hospital/Bluff Hill), Pukemokimoki to the south and Hukarere on top of Mataruahou. As a result of inter-tribal warfare, around the 1830s many local Ngāti Kahungunu sought refuge in Māhia. When missionaries and other Europeans began arriving in earnest after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the exiles had returned and Te Koau, near Te Pakake, became the principal local pā. With the Ahuriri Purchase of 1851, the Crown acquired the lands between the Tutaekuri River and north to the Mohaka area, inclusive of Mataruahou and most of its surrounds. A few years later, in 1855, Napier was established by the government, with the town primarily located on the hill and around its base, as well as the narrow spits extending south and west. The site was not promising because road access was difficult and future expansion would be challenging. However, Napier had a port. This was an important factor in Napier becoming Hawke’s Bay’s early administrative, commercial, and social centre. The population rose steadily: 343 in 1858; to 3,514 in 1874; and 8,774 in 1901. Napier’s geography limited its growth, despite several reclamation projects, until the 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake lifted the ground level by as much as 2.7 metres in some places. As well as tidal lagoons, swamps and flooding, a recurring issue during Napier’s early colonial years was high seas. Marine Parade, initially known as Beach Road, was ‘subject to flooding and erosion when stormy seas could reach as far as Hastings Street.’ A sea wall was begun during the 1860s and repairs were made to it during the 1870s, but the need for greater protection was obvious when a massive wave in May 1877 ‘knocked two cottages off their piles, flooded several shops, and smashed the front of the Court House.’ However, some residents felt efforts should be concentrated elsewhere and it wasn’t until 1888, when the sea again caused major damage, that it was decided to build a new sea wall ‘not less than 4 feet [1.2 metres] wide, made of concrete, not timber, with an ‘apron’ to deflect water away from its foundations.’ The mayor of Napier at this time was George Henry Swan. Napier’s Mayor, George Henry Swan George Henry Swan was born in Sunderland, England in 1833. He was educated as a chemist, also gaining knowledge of photography. His brother was Sir Joseph W. Swan (1828-1914), famous for his work on the science of photography and the invention of the incandescent electric light. After arriving in Wellington in 1857, George Swan ran a photography business. He is responsible for some of the early photographs of Wellington and in 1859 the Illustrated London News carried an engraving of a view of Wellington, based on his photograph of Te Aro Flat. In 1864 he moved to Napier, where he opened a branch of the photography business he ran with J. D. Wrigglesworth. In 1869 Swan’s business focus shifted to brewing and hotels and in 1877 he opened a swimming baths beside his White Swan Brewery. Swan entered local politics in 1874, serving on the Municipal Council. In 1885 Swan became Napier’s mayor and remained in office until he moved to Hawera in 1901. At the time he was thought to be the longest serving mayor in Australasia. He was also the Napier Member of Parliament between 1890 and 1893. He lost his seat in 1893, probably as a result of his earlier opposition to women’s suffrage. He was also a noted actor and was involved in many plays and other entertainments. After moving to Hawera, he shifted to Whanganui, where he set up as a brewer with his eldest son. Swan made manifold contributions to the city of Napier during his time on the Council and as mayor. In particular, his passion for the improvement of the city led to the development of Marine Parade. Under Swan’s leadership Napier became a ‘model town’ and his pet project was turning Marine Parade into a European-style seaside promenade. The idea was initially ridiculed by other councilors, but Swan persisted. The new sea wall, road widening, creation of footpaths, planting of the iconic row of Norfolk pines and construction of a band rotunda were all completed during his mayoralty. Swan also contributed to the city as chairman or member of the Napier Hospital Board, the Hawke's Bay United Charitable Aid Board and the Napier Harbour Board. Memorialising Swan After Swan’s death in July 1913, although he had not lived in the city for over a decade, a community meeting resolved to build a memorial to him and fundraising began. Initial ideas included a life-size statue of Swan on his white horse, a new hospital ward bearing his name or an obelisk. At the same time, a separate fundraising effort was being made to raise money for a children’s paddling pool. A decision was made to merge the two efforts. It was agreed that Marine Parade was a fitting place for a memorial, given Swan’s involvement in its development. In 1917 the Swan Memorial Committee reserved £50 for a bust of Swan and gave £680 to the Borough Council for the construction of a paddling pool and shelter. The Council took up a fourteen-year lease of a site beside Marine Parade from the Harbour Board and the pool excavation work began in October. The pool and shelter were built on the beach side of the sea wall alongside Marine Parade, next to the municipal baths, which had been built in 1909. The pool and shelter were initially designed by notable Hawke’s Bay architect James Augustus Louis Hay (1881-1948). The shelter’s random rubble masonry posts and Marseille tile roof were features of verandahs on several contemporary Hay houses. However, it appears the Borough Engineer at the time, Ernest Arthur Williams, was involved in the final design. Williams went on to become a key Napier architect following the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake and, like Hay, many of his buildings survive today. The existing sea wall seems to have been cut into in order to construct the posts for the shelter, with a larger section removed for the central bay featuring a sculpture niche. Seating was provided poolside of the sea wall and the eastern shelter posts appear to have been timber. The pool itself measured 30 metres by 10.5 metres and was approximately 46 centimetres deep in the centre, rising gradually to the sides where it was 33-35 centimetres deep. Joseph Ellis (c.1880-1941), art master at Wellington Technical College, was selected to sculpt the bust of Swan. A ‘new departure in beach attractions’ There were two official openings for the pool – the first for children on the afternoon of Saturday 2 February 1918, when the pool itself was finished, but without the bust of Swan, memorial tablet or roof tiles. At this first opening, children gathered, including many ‘armed with boats’, the Mayoress declared the pool open and the water was turned on. The Hastings Standard reported that the pool was a ‘fitting tribute to the memory of a worthy citizen, and is evidence that Napier is keenly interested in the town's progress, this being the first children's paddling pool erected in the Dominion’. The paddling pool was described in the New Zealand Herald as a ‘new departure in beach attractions.’ The Marseille roofing tiles arrived soon after and the roofing was completed by the end of the month, but the second opening was delayed for more than three years. In July 1918 it was reported that the bust had required a second casting due to ‘a slight accident’ during the first casting and should be ready soon. However, by February 1919 the Swan Memorial Committee was considering legal action against the maker of the bust. The bust eventually arrived from the Albion Art Foundry, London, in July 1921 and was finally unveiled in front of several hundred people on 26 October 1921. A photograph from the 1921 opening was published in the Auckland Weekly News and shows the mayor at the time, J. B. Andrew, speaking in front of the bust with men and women seated in rows on either side of him. As a safe alternative to the notoriously dangerous adjoining beach, the paddling pool quickly became a popular public facility, with the shelter providing a shaded area from which parents and caregivers could observe their children. Only five days after the pool first opened in February 1917, the Poverty Bay Herald reported that ‘the Swan Memorial Paddling Pool has already become quite a recognised institution, where the children of Napier can deport themselves in happiness and safety. Yesterday there was a heavy sea running and the surf was quite unsafe for either bathing or paddling, hence the pool was in great demand, dozens of children splashing about in it with shrieks of delight.’ The paddling pool was also popular with visiting children; in January 1919 the Hastings Standard noted that ‘the present fine weather is attracting a large number of people to Napier, the beach of course being the centre of attraction. The Swan Memorial Paddling Pool is proving a great boon, and hundreds of children are to be seen daily enjoying a paddle.’ There are many photographs showing the pool crowded with children wading and adults standing alongside, and it often featured in films of sunny Napier. Over the years the Napier City Council received letters from other towns around New Zealand such as Whanganui, Bluff and the Hutt Valley asking for details about the paddling pool as they were keen to build their own. Later a second pool was added next to it and a children’s playground was built between the pool and the sea. Following the Earthquake During the magnitude 7.8 Hawke’s Bay earthquake in 1931, the beach along Marine Parade lifted by about 2 metres, making Marine Parade much more protected from high seas, and further reclamation followed. The buildings on the beach side of the sea wall, which had consisted of only the paddling pools and the municipal pool, were then supplemented by a great deal of new development in the 1930s and following decades. The Marine Parade Gardens were built, as well as the sound shell, the Veronica Sun Bay, the Tom Parker Fountain and other features. Maintaining the Pool and Shelter The paddling pool proved challenging to maintain and various repairs were made to both the shelter and the pool over the years. In 1955 a recommendation by the City Engineer that the shelter be stripped, straightened up and re-roofed was adopted by the Council. By 1962 the Buildings Maintenance Officer reported that both the original pool and the second, newer pool were in bad condition. At this time the Council considered closing over the original paddling pool in favour of repairing only the second pool, but the Officer did not encourage this, stating that the second pool was deeper and only opened during the school holidays for bigger children to use. The Officer noted that although the shelter was not in ‘first class condition’ it would last for many more years and building a new shelter in front of the second pool would be expensive. In 1972 the Medical Officer of Health expressed concerns over the badly cracked state of the pool and inadequate levels of chlorination and by 1984 a redesign of the area was being considered. Finally, in 1991 the paddling pool and play area underwent a major transformation. The original pool was filled in and grassed over for play equipment and the second pool was rebuilt closer to the beach. The City Council provided $30,000 worth of funding for the project, while businesses donated materials and service groups, and members of the public, Council staff and even Councillors themselves provided voluntary labour. Perhaps at around this time, the shelter was separated from the Ocean Spa with pool fencing. In 1996 the pool complex was threatened with demolition in order to provide car parking for the nearby War Memorial Conference Centre, but a petition signed by 7,000 people over ten days forced the Napier City Council to reconsider. In January 2003, the current Ocean Spa complex opened. Covering the site of the former paddling pool and municipal baths, the complex, owned by the Napier City Council, incorporates outdoor swimming and hot pools, private spas and a gym. The Swan Memorial Pool Shelter was reincorporated into the Ocean Spa’s outdoor area design in 2015, when decorative wrought iron fencing panels were inserted into the shelter’s open sections. This enabled the removal of protective fencing between the shelter and the pools and facilitated the shelter’s return to its original function as seating and shade for pool users and spectators. In early 2018 the Napier City Council undertook structural repairs and maintenance on the shelter, as salt exposure had deteriorated the columns.

Current Description The Swan Memorial Pool Shelter is located at the northern end of Marine Parade, on the boundary between the western footpath and the Ocean Spa complex. The shelter is constructed primarily from random rubble masonry in a local stone with white grouting. It features a solid central bay facing Marine Parade that contains an arched sculpture niche. The pillars of the central bay extend to the top of the shelter’s roofline. A head and shoulders bronze bust of a man with short hair, moustache and beard wearing a bowtie, shirt, waistcoat and suit jacket sits in the sculpture niche on a low square plinth inscribed with the words ‘G H Swan / Mayor / 1883 – 1901’. The bronze has oxidised and the bust is now almost totally green, with the eyes coloured white. Below the sculpture niche is a tablet with raised lettering that reads ‘Swan / Memorial / 1917’. On either side of the solid central bay are four pillars that sit under the eaves of the shelter, connected along the bottom by a low concrete wall. These pillars form four sections of the shelter with a view through to the outdoor pools of the Ocean Spa complex. The sections contain wrought iron fence panels, the narrow bars of which rise vertically to a horizontal strip of decorative pattern. Above the strip of pattern, the vertical bars curve convexly up to the roof of the shelter. The gabled roof of the shelter is constructed with Marseille tiles. The western side of the shelter is accessible only through the Ocean Spa complex, but from the Marine Parade footpath low bench seating can be seen. The shelter is one of a number of memorial structures along Marine Parade, including the 1897 Flood Heroism Memorial (List No. 1115), located almost directly opposite. Others include the South African War Memorial (List No. 1111), 1933 Kirk Sundial, 1934 Veronica Sunbay, 1937 Colonnade, 1947 Percy Spiller Memorial, 1982 Swan Memorial Lamp, 1993 Reflecting Ball, 1999 HMNZS Tui Anchor and the 2000 Millennial Arch. While the Memorial falls just outside the Napier City Centre Historic Area (List No. 7022), it is part of an area that includes the Napier Soldiers’ Club (Former) (List No. 9967), the Borough Council Chambers (Former) (List No. 2794) and the Hawke’s Bay Club (List No. 180).