More than $760,000 has been raised through grants and community efforts for the Waimate District Community Complex project.
The Waimate District Council announced this week the Lottery Community Facilities Fund had approved a grant of $500,000 towards the new stadium complex, confirming the importance of the project for the district, Mayor Craig Rowley said.
Last year, a sponsorship/partnership proposal was received from Waimate businessman Gary Rooney.
This resolved one of the major issues, whether the stadium should have one or two sports courts, as Mr Rooney offered to pay for the second court.
The council decided to go ahead with the project subject to conditions, including that it would not cost ratepayers more than $3.8 million, which included $950,000 to be raised by the community. The total cost is not known because the extra would be paid by Mr Rooney.
The Waimate District Charitable Foundation took responsibility for raising the $950,000 and with the $500,000 grant, has so far raised $760,000.
''This team of dedicated supporters has worked very hard to ensure that the target is reached,'' Mr Rowley said.
''We are now confident that the target will be achieved in the near future.''
Construction of Waimate's multimillion-dollar sports stadium for Waimate was expected to start on August 3.
''To reach this point in a project which has been discussed and debated over for more than a decade is amazing,'' he said.
''The many people in the Waimate district who have contributed along the way should all be proud and share in the ownership of the project.''
