Carisbrook

More payments by the Dunedin City Council totalling more than $300,000 have been linked to the sale of Carisbrook as costs from the deal continue to rise.

The Dunedin City Council will make a loss once Carisbrook is sold, and has been hit with another bill for holding costs from the old stadium approaching $1 million, it has been revealed.

The Dunedin City Council has signed a deal to sell Carisbrook, but the buyer and the price could remain under wraps for months, Mayor Dave Cull says.

The sale of Carisbrook is at "the contractual stage" as the Dunedin City Council looks to conclude negotiations with a buyer, city property manager Robert Clark says.

Dunedin's supposedly mothballed Carisbrook stadium has been spruced up and the grounds are looking fit to host an All Blacks test match.

The Dunedin City Council is working towards closing a deal on Carisbrook before Christmas.

Call it the confusing case of the mystery million.

Information about the "missing" $1 million from the sale of Carisbrook in 2009 has been uncovered, but while it sheds light on the situation, it raises more questions.

The $1.2 million debt incurred by the Otago Rugby Football Union when it sold Carisbrook more than two years ago is now weighing heavily on union finances, board deputy chairman Laurie Mains says.

An "aggressive" marketing campaign to sell Carisbrook ground will begin in early February, as the Dunedin City Council looks to recoup the $7 million it paid for the facility.

The name of the historic Dunedin rugby and cricket ground, Carisbrook, looks likely to live on in the name of a new local school.

The Great Carisbrook Garage Sale was held on Saturday. Organiser Vicki Kestila said hundreds of people attended the sale, to which rugby clubs were given priority access the previous day.

Perfect for your local club, the high school down the road or your back yard.

Initial responses from real estate companies vying for the job of selling the historic Carisbrook ground suggest the $7 million paid for the land by the Dunedin City Council might be recouped.

I drive past the new stadium every day and there's no doubt it is a spectacular edifice by Otago and possibly even international standards.