The Queenstown Lakes District Council will be asked tomorrow to approve a $500,000 grant towards the Memorial Hall upgrade, after the Lotteries Community Facilities Fund turned down a $800,000 request from the hall's trust.
In a letter to the council, the fund said the council "should consider contributing a higher level of investment towards the project before seeking significant discretionary funding support from this fund".
The fund reported experiencing "significant pressure" in deciding how to allocate its $6.7 million worth of available funding to requests totalling more than $26 million.
A report by the Queenstown Memorial Hall Trust asked the council to use the unallocated portion of the Queenstown Airport Corporation dividend for 2012-13 and provide a bridging loan for the shortfall.
It acknowledged there were "limited options to enable the making of a significant grant", because the council had adopted its long-term plan, but part of the dividend could be used.
The trust has helped raise more than two-thirds of the $3 million budget for the upgrade.
Major contributions have come from the Central Lakes Trust, the Community Trust of Southland and the Queenstown community. To date, the council has pledged $492,000.
Memorial trust chairwoman Cath Gilmour, also a councillor, said the council needed to "commit more funds to improve what is its asset".
"It's worth remembering that the last time the hall was upgraded, in 1998, the entire cost fell on ratepayers."
The Lotteries Community Facilities Fund specifically invited the council to reapply for funding before the July 11 deadline if the council upped its pledge, and at the Memorial Hall Trust meeting last Monday, it was decided to approach the council for support to reapply.
The report by the trust is to be reviewed by the council at 3pm tomorrow, and it said the council essentially had three options: to cancel the project; delay the project; or "increase council's funding commitment" by approving the $500,000 grant and bridging loan.
"The tender cost was not known at the time of the agenda close.
"However, this will be reported to the council at the meeting," Ms Gilmour said.
"Regardless, it is anticipated that there will be a shortfall in the funds required to complete the project as designed and that this could be in the order of $800,000."
