Steans Centennial Winter Gardens (Queens Park)

Invercargill City Council states that the Winter Gardens opened in 1957, made possible by bequests from John Baker and I. A. Steans; the Steans name appears in the building's full title, Steans Centennial Winter Gardens. A photograph from the 1950s or 1960s held by Te Hikoi Museum shows the inside of a building with glass walls and roof, intended to house tropical plants.

In April 2024 vandals smashed glass and wrecked the cactus garden; park officials closed the Winter Gardens and the neighbouring paths until further notice while repairs were made. An undated travel guide describes the winter garden as "currently under repair", and the gardens.org.nz website notes that the park suffered damage in the 2025 wind storms, without saying what was affected.

A photograph from the 1950s or 1960s held by Te Hikoi Museum presents the winter garden as a structure with glass walls and roof that raises the temperature to house tropical plants. The damage of April 2024 confirms how much glazing it has, since glass was smashed.

The outline mapped on OpenStreetMap, which carries the building's full name, is an irregular polygon whose envelope measures about 44 m north to south by 36 m east to west, with an entrance marked on its east side. A travel guide mentions an adjoining cactus house.

The city council describes an extensive collection of tropical and subtropical plants, including a display of carnivorous species. A travel guide adds that the winter garden keeps tropical and flowering plants year-round, with an adjoining cactus house; local press and the Invercargill news site report that the cactus garden was badly vandalised in April 2024.

The Winter Gardens stand in Queens Park, a public park of about 81 hectares (200 acres) according to NZ Pocket Guide, which also lists art monuments, an aviary, a Japanese garden and the Jessie Calder Gardens. The gardens.org.nz website mentions an aviary of native birds near the stumpery, and Wikipedia an animal reserve in the park.

Before visiting, it is wise to check with the council's parks service: the Winter Gardens closed in April 2024, an undated guide calls them "under repair", and the park was hit by the 2025 storms.