"The time and the work has been invested into the site and now it is time to get on with it,” Ms Dore said.   “We can’t put another two years into arguing about the site.” 

Ms Dore’s words come in the wake of a meeting on the controversial hall between Here Studio architects leading the design process for the site, Civic Hall working group, City of Ballarat and the Victorian Design Review Panel.

The Courier understands state government architects are pushing for the three final designs for the site to be narrowed down to one immediately. Ms Dore believed a four week deadline would provide ample time for all stakeholders to come to an agreement on a final design.  

"There has been a comprehensive process undertaken and now it is time to make a decision on the preferred concept," Ms Dore said.  "It would be extremely disappointing for the community if that level of consultation does not result in action this year.”

Concerns were also raised by architects about the viability of key features of the designs, but Ms Dore said any issues could be tweaked by mid March.

 "It’s normal to have viability issues on design elements of any large community facility. It's just part of the creative process where you work out what will work and what you can afford to invest.”

Ms Dore said the committee was advocating to secure jobs in state and federal government as well as the private sector.  

"If we can secure a government office space then we will have a greater chance at securing funding to assist in funding the rest of the site,” she said.

Councillor Samantha McIntosh said the process had been difficult but the city had never been closer to a resolution.  She dubbed it the city’s most critical project in recent years and said a final design was weeks away. 

“You’ve got big business developers but you’ve also got people with social and emotional connections to the site all wanting to be involved,” Cr McIntosh said.  “There is also extensive economic potential at the site so you pull all those factors together and it makes it an exceptionally challenging but critically important project that we must get right.”

The issue will return to a council meeting next week.