A Dunedin-based trust was formed earlier this year to look at establishing a writers' retreat at Tuwhare's house overlooking the beach.
The group has now shied away from that idea because of the costs involved and is instead focusing on seeing excerpts from his poems engraved on brass plaques attached to the rocks that dot the beachfront near his former house.
Another group, spearheaded by Tuwhare's son, Robert, is still investigating the writers' retreat idea and hopes to set up its own trust early next year to tackle that project.
Ron Esplin, who is part of the Otago trust, said it had thoroughly looked at the concept of establishing a writers' retreat at Tuwhare's property but a visit there revealed "the immensity of that task".
The house was in a poor state of repair and restoring it or placing another house on the site would be very expensive and time-consuming.
Maintaining the facility would also not be cheap, he said.
"We [the trustees] agreed the prospect of going through with that project was either immensely difficult, if not impossible," Mr Esplin said.
This prompted a re-think and the idea of a "writers' walk" where excerpts from Tuwhere's poems would be engraved on plaques and placed on the large rocks that border the coastline near his property.
"Something like that would be a constant reminder of his presence," he said.
Trustees were enthusiastic about the idea and had consulted Eastern Southland Gallery curator Jim Geddes, a long-time friend of Tuwhare.
Mr Esplin hoped to consult with the Clutha District Council and others to try and make the idea a reality as soon as possible.
"We've got a lot of support for it . . . they [the rocks] would be low maintenance and potentially a real tourist drawcard."
While the area was subject to high tides daily, he was confident the words on brass set into the rocks could be protected from sea salt and erosion.
Mr Esplin said it might be a long process negotiating consents and arranging finance but the idea had strong appeal.
Meanwhile, Tuwhare's son confirmed the family was still keen to see the writers' retreat established at Kaka Point.
Robert Tuwhare said family and others were working to clear the remaining $27,000 mortgage on the house before pursuing the retreat idea.
