FLINTSHIRE Council’s landmark base County Hall could be torn down and rebuilt.
Ambitious plans to “scale back” the site and create a more efficient use of the space on the Civic Centre in Mold are being considered.
Plans to refurbish nearby Clwyd Theatr Cymru with help from the Arts Council of Wales have also been revealed.
After a meeting discussing the council’s capital spending yesterday chief executive Colin Everett said County Hall is “expensive” to maintain.
He said: “County Hall is an old building. It is relatively expensive for energy costs because it is an open design.
“It is not a good use of space inside. If you took the floor space you could have two to three times as many people in a similar sized building.
“Because of all of those things, it is not a discredit to the past, but it is not a viable building.”
The council is looking to finalise proposals for the building within the next three to five years and as of yet no decision has been taken.
Land surrounding County Hall could also be utilised for other uses if a smaller headquarters was built.
Mr Everett said: “We are looking at the future of possibly refurbishing Theatr Clwyd with Arts Council support, we are in the middle of a study around that.
“We look at the site as one complex. The buildings share car parking, access and facilities so if we are to look at that we need to look at the whole thing.
“If we did not look at it we would not be doing our jobs.
“Nobody can prove the building is viable in the long run. There is always going to be a civic centre on this site, but possibly in a scaled down way.”
Flintshire is looking at introducing ‘one stop shops’ around the county to provide services closer to the public.
Approval has already been given to build a centre in Holywell under the Flintshire Connects programme.
The Flintshire Council-governed theatre adopted a new business plan which included generating income through weddings and conferences.
Mr Everett said: “There is a long term commitment to the theatre, it not going anywhere. It is an aging building.
“We are in really positive talks with the Arts Council about future investment.”