PLANS for a £360,000 extension at PetersfieldÕs Festival Hall took another step forward on Monday night.
Members of the town councilÕs Public Halls Committee decided to ask architect Roger Hill to give them an estimate of the cost of getting outline planning permission.
Councillors have also asked for a Òball parkÓ figure of the final cost of the extension.
But George Watkinson told the meeting he believed the cost would be around £1,200 per square metre for the 300- square-metre building.
Councillors have had the extension at the Festival Hall on their wish list for nearly 20 years, but have not been able to find the money.
They want to replace the single-storey extension at the side of the Festival Hall with a two-storey building which would include a replacement meeting room, kitchen and better toilets.
Councillors also want to put a second storey on the extension, providing accommodation to let, which would help pay for the maintenance of the building.
At the meeting on Monday night Ken Hick said: ÒTime is on our side, we want to put ourselves in the position where if anything happens and money becomes available we are in the position to go ahead more or less straightaway.Ó
And he warned that there could come a time when the council would have to find the money anyway if there was a structural failure.