Councillor Nigel Skelt said yesterday the council had the responsibility to change the sentiment, during a council meeting to deliberate on further investment for the City Block.
The consultation sought community input on whether or not the council should invest an extra $16million, resulting in a total of $46million.
It has already funded $25million of the project — including a $5million contingency plan.
During the consultation period, 462 submissions were received. Sixty percent of them preferred that the council spend the $46 million.
Councillors yesterday indicated they would vote in favour of the funding.
Cr Skelt’s comments followed a submission from the youth council supporting the investment, which reported young people’s embarrassment about the city.
"Each and every one of us has a responsibility to turn this around for our youth ... they are our future. We have this opportunity in front of us."
He gave a nod to the ILT Stadium Southland which had "blown" the budget from $21million to $43million with earthquake-strengthening work, but was now a "facility of which everyone is proud".
"This [the CBD block] is [the] next opportunity."
Cr Darren Ludlow said the model, under which the council needed to invest more money, was not ideal but the extra investment had "strong support" from the community.
Cr Toni Biddle agreed.
Before the deliberation, the council heard from property manager Gaire Thompson in relation to his submission.
He said as an Invercargill ratepayer he had "huge concerns", including the funding gap and the feasibility to secure tenants, as he had been dealing with retail owners across the country and all of them were seeking a "financial handout".
"I don’t want to see a disaster," he said.
All councillors, with the exception of Crs Allan Arnold and Nobby Clark, said they would vote for the investment to go ahead.
The decision is expected to be made at the next council meeting on June 29.
