Crews worked to stablize the Hollow Tree in Vancouver's Stanley Park this past summer. (CBC)

Efforts to prop up the once-famous Hollow Tree in Vancouver's Stanley Park's have been given an extension by the Vancouver Park Board, but the group behind the project is still only halfway to their fundraising goal.

The Hollow Tree Conservation Society hoped to have the decaying landmark stabilized in a vertical position by the end of September, but the project ran into engineering issues, according to spokesman Bruce Macdonald.

"We had a big crane there and it was a problem getting it completely vertical, and so that required revisiting the engineering drawings and getting approval from our engineers in Calgary and so forth, so that was the main delay," said MacDonald.

Despite the delays, the project is about 85 per cent complete, said MacDonald, and he expects it will be finished by the end of the year.

Fundraising falls short

The project is being financed and directed by the volunteer group at no cost to taxpayers, but the recent economic downturn has hurt fundraising efforts, leaving them about $30,000 short of the $60,000 goal.

After the tree's roots were damaged by a storm in 2006, causing it to lean precariously and the Park Board announced plans to cut the tree down, the group stepped in with a proposal to save it.

The group says the tree, which is known for the cavernous hollow at the base of the stump, was Vancouver's first tourist attraction.

When Stanley Park was opened to the public in 1888, the Hollow Tree quickly became a focal point for visitors to have themselves photographed inside the vast opening, often inside carriages, and later in automobiles.