School pupils have demonstrated their creativity by decorating the interior of a new public toilet block to be installed in Owaka next week.
Clutha District Council communications co-ordinator Rachel Askew said promotions group Owaka Going Forward approached the council last year with a proposal for school pupils to paint the tiles in a new toilet block at the Owaka Playground.
The council approved a $130,000 budget for the toilet block to be installed at the site and pupils from the Catlins Area School were allowed to paint the ceramic tiles on the interior of the building.
The Catlins Area School art teacher Glenda Landreth said Owaka needed new public toilets to support the increase in tourism.
Mrs Landreth said there were many "famous'' toilets in New Zealand, such as the one at Kawakawa, and she thought it would be great to have something similar in Owaka.
The pupils worked with local photographer Janice Brockett and planned for the tiles to show images of the Catlins' land and sea.
"There are some quite creative stories behind some of them and they took a lot of pride in what they did,'' Mrs Landreth said.
Almost every pupil at the school painted a tile.
The 400mm x 200mm tiles were put in place by Balcrom in Balclutha.
There were also ideas to paint the exterior of the block in the future but nothing was confirmed.
Ms Askew said work on the toilet block was finished and installation was planned for Wednesday next week.
Tapanui will also have a new toilet block installed at the Bushy Hill playground with a similar design as the Owaka toilets, although it will not feature tiles painted by pupils.
