Dunedin City Council community life general manager Graeme Hall said yesterday once the three-week appeal period for the consent was over, the council would begin preparing the building for the removal of the bays.
That would be done during the cricket season, and it was planned to have it finished by February 1.
The decision to demolish part of the building, which has a category one heritage rating and is protected in the city's district plan, was officially announced in March, after a compromise was reached between the council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
The compromise meant the trust would support the council's resource consent application to demolish part of the building, as long as the council placed a binding covenant on its title ensuring the remainder of the building was left.
The $5 million project would allow the University Oval to be expanded to allow for an outfield about the size of Wellington's Basin Reserve, so test matches with major cricketing nations could be staged in Dunedin.
Mr Hall said work on the covenant would begin next week.
The consent came with seven conditions, including that a permanent display be developed in the building, with information on the South Seas Exhibition.
The former art gallery was built for the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition.
The display was also required to refer to the contribution of the Sargood family, who bought the building and gave it to the council for use as an art gallery.
Mr Hall said he hoped one or two cricket games could be held on the extended oval in late February next year to test the facility, and rugby would be played there from April.
