However, the Dunedin City Council expects demand for funding to grow as more building owners line up for assistance to make sure their buildings are safe.
The Dunedin Heritage Fund - jointly administered by the council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust Otago Southland branch - yesterday announced grants worth $100,000 for the owners of seven heritage buildings across the city.
Among the grants were two for earthquake strengthening work at the Port Chalmers Maritime Museum ($35,000) and at 412a George St ($25,000), in central Dunedin, which houses the Capers Restaurant.
Other grants went to the Duke of Wellington pub for ceiling restoration work ($5000) inside its new venue at the historic Queens Garden Court building, and Cargill's Castle ($9000) for an engineering report.
The private owners of the Mornington Manse received $6500 for the restoration of a veranda, as they had largely completed the manse's restoration, while $9500 went to the Robert Lord Writers Cottage for brick repairs and sealing work, council policy planner Glen Hazelton said.
Another $10,000 went to Mathieson's Farm, on Otago Peninsula, to cover the cost of a condition report and work specifications for the farm's old bluestone barn, he said.
Mr Hazelton said the two earthquake strengthening grants were the first distributed by the fund since its launch in 1995.
The Christchurch earthquakes had been a wake-up call for building owners, prompting more to seek financial assistance from the fund, he said.
"There have been a lot of other people calling about the opportunities, so I think it's going to become an important part of our work moving into the future.
"There's lots of buildings needing strengthening and there will always be people wanting to put their hands up for assistance."
The council contributed $80,000 a year to the fund, but unallocated funding from previous years meant it could spend above that level at the moment, Mr Hazelton said.
However, the annual allocation was likely to be "only the tip of the iceberg" in future, as the fund's profile grew, he believed.
The Port Chalmers Maritime Museum was a two-storey stone building built about 1870, and was owned by the Port Chalmers Historical Society.
Society president Norman Ledgerwood said the building was in generally good condition, but the grant would help pay for new reinforcing beams tying the museum's roof to its stone walls.
"If there is a bit of a shake, the roof acts as a bracing diaphragm to help hold the walls together."
The society was also seeking funding from the Lottery Grants Board to help pay for separate internal renovations, with a decision expected by June, and both projects could be carried out at the same time, he said.
Either way, the museum was expected to be closed for about one month when work on the roof began later this year, and would reopen in time for the influx of cruise ship tourists in November, he said.
The Dunedin heritage buildings economic reuse steering group has also prepared a maintenance checklist to help heritage building owners prepare maintenance regimes.
The checklist aimed to help owners identify roof leaks and other possible problems early, before they grew into much bigger problems, as well as design and construction faults, group member Cr Kate Wilson said.
