Two conservation groups are awaiting a decision from the Land for Maine’s Future on a grant application that could make or break an effort to preserve 76 acres along the Saco River in Hollis, across from the 65-acre Pleasant Point Park in Buxton.

The Indian Cellar Property Preservation Committee, whose members are from both Buxton and Hollis, and the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit conservation group, are seeking to purchase the 58-acre Indian Cellar property from Maine Woodland Properties, which has a plan to develop the land for houses.

The Trust for Public Land last year secured an option to purchase the property for $850,000. The land would then be owned and preserved by Hollis. An abutter has offered to donate an additional 18 acres if the purchase goes through.

The purchase option was set to expire at the end of June, but the contract has been extended to the end of July as the groups wait to hear the decision on a $475,000 grant from Land for Maine’s Future, a conservation program in the State Planning Office. The decision on the grant is expected to be announced July 8 or 9.

“It’s an incredibly competitive application,” said Wolfe Tone, a project manager for the Trust for Public Land. “Forty applications were submitted around the state, and they’re all incredible.”

“If we get a good response from the state, we’re optimistic it’s going to get done,” Tone said.

If the grant comes in at the amount applied for, the groups would have enough to purchase the land. If the grant comes in lower, the groups would have a few weeks to scramble for additional funding.

In November, Hollis residents voted 71 percent in favor of using $250,000 of town money toward the purchase of the land. The Indian Cellar Property Preservation Committee has a goal to raise $300,000, and as of this week, it is just a couple thousand dollars away, according to Tone.

“We’re ecstatic,” said Ren Wilkinson, a member of the committee, about getting so close to the $300,000 goal. “It was really a dream when it started.”

“We’ve done really well,” said Tone. “The community stepped up in a big way.”

Tone said donations are continuing to come in, and they’ve had more than 200 donors so far. The project also includes a stewardship fund that will be set up separate from town funds to manage the preserved space if the purchase goes through.

The property is called Indian Cellar because centuries ago, American Indians stored supplies in the safety and cool of a cave in the rocks along the untamed Saco River.