The Friends of Locke Park have made a £250,000 application for funding to restore the tower.
On Wednesday members of the group met with staff from waste management firm Biffa's Flagship Scheme; a project it runs offering grants for 'cultural facilities'.
Ahead of the meeting, David Allen from the group, said he and fellow members remained positive the historic observation tower could still be restored to its former glory.
The Grade II listed tower is the highest point in the town and was built in 1877 as a memorial to Joseph Locke's wife, Phoebe, paid for by her sister Sarah McCreery.
It dominates the park and before its closure visitors could enjoy spectacular views of South, West and East Yorkshire from the top of it.
It was also said you could see three other counties, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, on a clear day.
The tower had to be shut in the early 1990s because of its structural state and David said it now requires 'top-to-bottom' restoration work on the stonework, ornate carvings and the wooden viewing platform.
Proposals for its restoration were announced in 2007 and since then famous names from the town have done their bit to save the crumbling tower.
Both painter Ashley Jackson and sculptor Graham Ibbeson have donated pieces of their work to raise some of the cash needed.
