But the mezzanine Mr Nye wanted to house his planned ''world class'' reference library at his Harbour St, Oamaru, premises has been delayed for at least a year.
And further, the bookseller said, he worried he had not yet received a formal confirmation from his landlord, the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust, it would be built after he returned to New Zealand with more than 7500 rare books and related maps and memorabilia.
In April, Mr Nye said he would fly to Massachusetts this month to oversee the packing of a collection of more than 6000 books - plus memorabilia and ephemera - donated by the late Jack Newton.
But since then - because of his connection to the Andrill scientific drilling project in the Antarctic, for which he served as an engineer on two successive trips - an anonymous donor offered another 1500-plus books.
After Mr Nye leaves the east coast, he will travel west to Washington to organise the packing of that collection, which is to be shipped in the same 20-foot container as the other books.
It would cost Mr Nye $11,000 to ship the collection, he said, and he had yet to receive a guarantee from the trust the library space would be built.
''I'm doing my part, I feel like, and I just need them to follow through,'' Mr Nye said. ''
''I am worried about what's going to happen here.''
The trust's operations manager, Mark Smith, said it supported the project and understood the potential builders for the project would not be available for at least a year. However, ''we need to complete due diligence before any decision can be made on a specific, costed and regulatorily compliant proposal'', he said.
The trust had been seeking specifics from industry professionals as to how to turn the library Mr Nye envisaged into a reality.
''In the time since [Mr Nye] made his dream public, representatives of the [trust] have met with [him] to discuss concrete details,'' Dr Smith said.
''There are many practicalities that have to be worked out before the exact shape of the project can be determined.''
The trust also had to evaluate where funds for the project could come from.
''As soon as the details of the project are determined, the trust board will decide whether it has the resources to go ahead with it.''
