The Waitaki District Council will vote today on reinstating Craig Fountain, dismantled in March after failing in the 1990s and being turned off, for $75,000.
For months the dismantled fountain has remained in more than a dozen pieces in storage.
Council recreation manager Erik van der Spek said the cost of the work to restore the Historic Places Trust category 2 structure was ''very consistent with the estimates'' first considered over a decade ago.
''Until we pulled it apart, we didn't know 100% whether we would be able to get it working again,'' he said.
A conservation report in 2001 recommended dismantling the structure and four years ago the fountain's future was in doubt.
In 2012, the Otago Daily Times reported that community services manager Dr Thunes Cloete told councillors who wanted the fountain to be renovated in situ, and with no expectation for it to ever work again, stonemasons were ''80% sure'' the fountain could be reinstated.
In the council report for today's meeting, the cost to disassemble and investigate the cause of the leak that prompted the fountain to be turned off roughly 20 years ago is listed at $39,600.
In 2013, the fountain, a gift to Oamaru by the founder of the firm James Craig and Co Timber Merchants, was expected to cost up to $100,000 to reassemble in working order.
In 1990, the council carried out extensive work on the 1912 fountain after parts wore out and to correct vandalism damage that had accrued over the years.
As well as the $75,000, from a bequest to the gardens, Mr van der Spek's report recommends councillors accept the offer from Network Waitaki and the Rotary Club of Oamaru to fundraise for lighting for the council. The company has offered
to provide the lighting design for free, with the Rotary Club fundraising to cover costs.
The internal LED lighting would be expected to cost $30,000.
