Mon 31 May 2010 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The Anzac Ave building A chapter in New Zealand's gay history has ended, with the closure of the Westside Sauna and Out Bookshop in downtown Auckland. The sauna, originally called Victoria Spa, had been run for more than three decades. It was based on a section of Albert St now occupied by the district court building before it was relocated to Anzac Ave where it has in turn occupied two similar premises. The sauna and Out Bookshop were once the centrepiece of a string of nationwide gay businesses headed by Tony Katavich and the late Brett Sheppard. The pair also edited and published the long-running Out! magazine, the final issue of which was released last February. It's understood Katavich is now shutting down all operations at the rented Anzac Ave building. Phone counselling service OUTLine is situated on the top floor of the premises, in premises it has for years occupied on a reduced rental rate as a sub-lessee of Katavich's interests. OUTLine is not yet commenting on its future in the building, nor is the ground floor Travel Desk which was another original part of the business group but which has for some time been independently managed. You can discuss this gay community news story in the Daily News section of our GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 31st May 2010 - 2:17pm