The Dunedin City Council is dusting off a long-awaited - and potentially expensive - plan to reinstate the remains of a historic manuka causeway in the Wall Street mall.
The rotting timbers were described as a find of national significance when discovered during construction of the council-owned complex in 2008.
The timber causeway dated back to the 1850s and Dunedin's earliest European settlers, and had been preserved in the mud it was once used to walk over until it was unearthed.
About 60% was deemed too rotten to save, but the rest was removed and soaked in a chemical bath to preserve it until being dried out in 2013.
Some of the timbers were then displayed at Toitu museum, but the rest had remained in storage since.
Yesterday, council infrastructure and networks acting general manager Leanne Mash said staff were once again working to display the remaining timbers inside the mall.
Display options were still being investigated, but it was hoped the work could be carried out next winter, she said.
''The end aim is to establish an in-situ display that has meaning and adds context to the heritage interpretation of the causeway,'' she said.
Ms Mash would not be drawn on the likely cost of the project or the options being considered or the likely cost of the project yesterday.
In 2013, the Otago Daily Times reported the cost of preserving the timber remains had climbed to $153,000, but could reach $200,000 by the time work was finished.
The bill included work by wet wood conservation specialist Dilys Johns, of Auckland, who was called in to help preserve the remains.
Yesterday, Ms Mash said there had been no further expenditure on the timbers in recent years, and costs remained ''still in line'' with those reported in 2013.
However, council staff said at the time a full temperature and humidity control system would also be needed as part of any display of the timbers under a glass floor at Wall Street.
That could add another $140,000 to the bill, bringing the total cost to about $340,000, it was predicted at the time.
Ms Mash said yesterday costs would not be known until display options were explored in more detail.
DCC heritage policy planner Dan Windwood said the manuka causeway was ''important to Dunedin for a range of reasons''.
The find dated back to before the Otago gold rush, showing what Dunedin was like to live in during the earliest years of European settlement, as well as how settlers responded to Dunedin's environment at the time, he said.
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Is the DCC office situated at the end of a Rainbow where there is a big pot of endless gold, or is it just the councillors and that assume this? Correct me if I'm wrong did I not long read that Wall Street Mall might be sold by the DCC, if the mall might be sold why the hell would you reinstate such a thing. IMHO it will not attract buyers but it would put buyers off. All this will do is put further restrictions on new buyers of what they can and not do, and possible cause them to spend more money on the upkeep of it. Again DCC you are in true form constantly spending rate payers money.