THE Pioneer Settlement has been on life support for "many years, if not decades".

That's the stark view from Swan Hill Rural City Council mayor Bill Moar during the recent debate about the controversial location for Our Place.

The $10 million building will be home to a new art gallery, visitor services, the Pioneer Settlement entrance and a new Aboriginal cultural experience.

Last month, council resolved to adopt location option one, inside the Pioneer Settlement, however a rescission motion hours later from opposing Cr Nicole McKay saw the debate return to the chamber.

The rescission motion was defeated, and the original motion prevailed.

"It's okay to dream, councillors. Dream of the grass being greener on the other side of the bridge, or out on the highway, up the road or around the next corner," Cr Moar said in speaking against the rescission motion.

"Dreams are free. Reality, however, is different, reality is much more time consuming and much more expensive."

Cr Moar said the first reality was Pioneer Settlement has been on life support for many years if not decades.

"The Pioneer Settlement and the Swan Hill Region Information Centre alone had cost ratepayers around $14 million over the past nine years," he said.

"Do I, as a councillor, sit on my hands and do nothing, and consent to spending another $14m over the next decade?

"My answer is a categorical no."

Cr Moar said the projected expenditure in the 2020/21 budget for the settlement's operations and visitor services alone was in excess of $1.3m, in addition to $300,000 for the art gallery.

The entire rating revenue from the commercial sector in the immediate Swan Hill area (not the entire municipality) is a little over $1.3m, according to Cr Moar.

"If nothing changes over the next 16 years, this means that one entire year's rating revenue (around $25m) will be consumed by just these three services. This, in my opinion is neither a fair nor equitable distribution of ratepayer fund...