However, it is not yet certain Dunedin will lose the hall.
The hall of fame’s annual report disclosed four organisations had expressed interest in hosting the facility — from Auckland, Cambridge, Christchurch and Invercargill — and an independent panel had reduced the field to one.
"This would establish whether the prospective partner is capable of taking on the undertaking, including a suitable museum space, as well as the long-term funding that is required," Mr McLauchlan said in the chairman’s report.
He declined to say which organisation had become the frontrunner.
The short-term future of the hall in Dunedin was also shored up after Sport New Zealand agreed to chip in $50,000.
The hall used to receive a $100,000 annual grant from Sport New Zealand, but this was suspended from the end of last year amid misgivings about the hall’s viability at its present site.
It has been at the Dunedin Railway Station since 1999, but consultants recommended the hall partner with a stadium or museum.
The trust had hoped the city would want to keep the hall, but the Dunedin City Council chose to stay out of an expressions-of-interest process.
Even so, efforts have been made to keep the hall in Dunedin, on the back of a $500,000 pledge from the late Sir Eion Edgar, who envisaged an expansion of the Edgar Centre indoor sports venue.
Mr McLauchlan described this as starting a discussion on a different approach for the hall and sports graphics that businessman Sir Ian Taylor has previously advocated for a high-tech, interactive, national facility in Dunedin.
Both the Edgar Centre and the railway station are owned by the city council.
Hall of fame chief executive Ron Palenski said in his report the hall moving to the Edgar Centre was a possibility "but so too is the prospect of remaining where we are".
Hosting offers from other New Zealand centres had yet to be fully explored, he wrote.
Manuireva Consulting found the status quo was not sustainable.
The city council’s contribution in the past financial year was $96,803 — $50,000 more than the previous year, after the council provided a lifeline to keep the hall open.
The hall achieved a surplus of $17,061 in the 2021 financial year and it was assisted by the Government’s Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme.
A bid from Christchurch to host the hall appears to be out of the running.
National Sports Museum Trust of New Zealand foundation chairman Bruce Ullrich said the trust had made quite a strong presentation, but it had not heard from the sports hall of fame lately.
The trust was moving on with its own national museum concept in Christchurch.
Cambridge, which has a population of about 20,000 people, hosts the national cycling centre of excellence and Rowing New Zealand’s high-performance centre.
Invercargill’s attractions include Bill Richardson Transport World and ILT Stadium Southland.
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The DCC and anyone else who believes the Sports Hall of Fame should be moved from Dunedin should be ashamed of themselves, especially after a wonderful gentleman by the name of Sir Eion Edgar put forward an offer of $500k to keep it in the city.
I hope that the Edgar family will rescind that offer, if the short sighted councillors can't get their act together and do what's right, not only for the man who gave so much to the city, but for the people of Dunedin ... the Sports Hall of Fame should be an icon in the city, something I'm sure the majority of its inhabitants would be proud to call their own, but it would seem the DCC are more interested in buying more paint to make the streets colourful ... easy to see what the council consider a "priority".
We have the most anti-Dunedin mayor and council in living memory. They should be ashamed of the damage they have done to the city.
I agree with the other writers. Worst council ever. You have done nothing worthwhile or legitimately rewarding to Dunedin. You are tearing it down little by little. Disgusting, and it is our money!