The review came to public attention last month, after the Lawrence Information Centre voiced concerns about its financial and volunteer staffing sustainability, and revealed it had appealed to the council for assistance.
At the time, Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan told the Otago Daily Times he sympathised with the challenges faced by the centre's volunteer community operator, the Tuapeka-Lawrence Community Company (TLCC), which were ''symptomatic of what we're seeing right across the district''.
As a result, a planned review of the district's only official iSITE, in Balclutha, had now been extended to include Lawrence, and a wider review of visitor information centre provision throughout the district, council chief executive Steve Hill said.
''We'll be asking the question: what is the most effective structure and relationship to deliver and co-ordinate tourism strategy and visitor and information centre service delivery in the district?
''We've identified a need to improve the effectiveness of the connection between strategy creation, implementation and service delivery, and we hope the upcoming review will provide direction for council.''
Remaining within existing budgets was key, Mr Hill said, although new funding would be considered if potential benefits offered justification.
Balclutha iSITE cost $174,000 to run during 2017-18, council figures showed.
''Looking at the budget, it doesn't look like this [will] change too much in coming years. There will be some additional costs involved with the iSITE retail stock purchases now coming in, however we would expect to recoup this from sales plus an appropriate margin.''
Parallel, council-steered but community-driven plans to establish a multifunction community facility at Balclutha Memorial Hall, ''anchored by iSITE foot traffic'' were also likely to have an influence on discussions, Mr Hill said.
If this entailed a ''state of the art'' iSITE, the question of how the broader resulting facility would be managed and staffed would need to be considered.
At present, Balclutha iSITE employs six staff, comprising one full-time, two part-time and three casual employees. Mr Hill gave no indications of how this might change.
The review would also encompass information centres running alongside council service centres in Tapanui and Owaka, and the situation at Lawrence Information Centre, which operated at present under mixed grant funding.
''The council will determine if Lawrence should have information centre services and, if so, how those should be structured, staffed and financed to deliver [for] Lawrence,'' Mr Hill said.
Lawrence Information Centre overseer, TLCC chairwoman Mel Foster, said she was pleased the council was looking at the facility's situation.
''Early discussions remain positive, and we look forward to contributing to the review,'' she said.
