Lakes Environmental has formally received a resource consent application to re-develop the Buckingham and Villiers streets allotment jointly owned by developer John Guthrie and Wakatipu bar owner and Lakes Weekly Bulletin publisher Scott Stevens.
Mr Stevens, the sole director of Arrowtown Mining Co, wants to construct a display information centre at the cottage which is next to Arrowtown's historic Chinese settlement, with the primary focus on "interactive gold panning".
"The main crux is that - depending on various estimates - between 49,000 and 70,000 people pass through the Chinese village.
"All I'm going to do is enhance that experience," Mr Stevens said.
The northern cottage was built about 1878, at the tail-end of the Central Otago alluvial gold rush, when Macetown was at the height of its quartz boom.
The southern cottage was built about 1890 and the two dwellings were subsequently joined.
The proposed renovation would incorporate exhibits on the history of Chinese settlement in the area, a tourism kiosk and a recreational gold-panning operation.
Souvenirs, food and mountain-bike and gold-pan hire would also be available.
The site would act as a base for guided walks at the Chinese settlement, gold panning tours and 4WD expeditions, primarily to Macetown and surrounding areas.
The consent will be put out for public submission in the coming weeks.
The residentially-zoned stone cottage (earlier known as Butler's Cottage) was built by pioneering Arrowtown merchant settler William Butler.
The Dudley family bought the cottage in 1905 and it remained in family hands for a century until being sold in the mid 2000s.
Now residentially zoned, the cottage has a Category 2 rating with both the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and in the Queenstown Lakes District Council Plan, meaning it cannot be demolished.
"In residential use, Dudley's Cottage has fallen into a state of disrepair and unfortunately commercial reality is that the property is unlikely to get the investment it warrants as a Category 2 site without a commercial use," Mr Stevens said.
"I'm hoping Arrowtown will see that this proposal is for the greater good of the area given the fact the Chinese village is such a crucial tourism attraction."
