$4.2 million earmarked for Wagga's Botanical Garden Precinct

The money will create an "entwining" Botanic Garden Precinct, with continuous walking paths and trails linking up the sites into one mega tourism destination.

It will also feature a brand new exhibition hall to go alongside the museum, doubling the amount of space dedicated to Wagga's proudest historical moments and sporting legends.

The news came to the delight of Wagga City Council deputy mayor Dallas Tout, who said it would make the city an even more enticing tourism destination and revitalise the floundering economy.

"It will improve an asset that is already an amazing asset into something really quite amazing in the country," Councillor Tout said.

"Having those assets in that part of the community that are appealing to travellers or holidaymakers who want to come here, it flows to economic stimulus in the shops and coffee shops."

The announcement was made on Friday by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who said the money was intended to ease the economic pain being felt in regional Australia.

Mr McCormack said the triple whammy of drought, bushfire, and coronavirus had dealt a harsh blow to Wagga's economy, which needed a boost to get off the ground.

"It's been a tough time in recent months... we've now got the coronavirus taking such a toll on jobs and that's why everything we do is all about creating jobs, creating hope, creating opportunities," Mr McCormack said.

"We're going to giving [the precinct] a refurb, we're going to be giving it a much-needed spruce-up."

Mr McCormack even floated hopes that it could entice city-dwellers to live in Wagga permanently, especially as office workers discover the possibilities of working from home during lockdown.

Council are still hashing out the final details for the project, with a concrete starting and ending date yet to be confirmed.

Initial works will focus on upgrading Brolga Pond, the surrounding Bamboo Garden, and Native Garden areas to be used for picnics and other outdoor gatherings.

The cash comes as part of the Building Better Regions Fund, with this recent announcement being part of the drought relief round.

On top of the Botanic Garden funding an additional $44,765 was announced for Destination Riverina Murray's "Destination Inspiration and Activation Program", which will deliver five tourism business support events across the region.