WAYS of transforming the town hall, Perceval House and Ealing Central Library, to help revitalise the town centre and save millions of pounds, are being explored by the council.

Options include a major redevelopment of Ealing Town Hall, which could become home to a hotel, restaurant and small number of flats to pay improvements to community areas, meeting and marriage rooms. The council would continue to own the site.

Ealing will now seek proposals from developers that ensure the town hall continues to be accessible to people, offers affordably-priced, improved community space and retains its civic functions, including council meetings and marriage rooms.

Modest office accommodation for councillors would be provided.

Large parts of the grade two-listed building are run-down and require costly repair, including the roof, heating system and toilets.

Running costs are also high and, because there is no sound-proofing between the large Victoria and Princes Halls, the council cannot hire the two rooms at the same time.

The cabinet also agreed this week that officers should commission studies on how the councill offices at Perceval House and its car park could be redeveloped.

Ideas include demolishing the existing building, which is expensive to run and repair and will become too big as the number of staff employed by the council reduces in the coming years.

Smaller, more efficient council offices could be built on part of the Uxbridge Road site or at another location. Or the council could move to an existing office building to make way for housing. All developments would be subject to planning approval.

The option of temporarily moving Ealing Central Library from its current out-of-the-way location home on the first and second floors of Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre to a more prominent site is being explored.

A longer-term option is to move into a redeveloped Perceval House site.

This would significantly reduce the library’s running cost as the council would not need to pay rent.

Council leader Julian Bell said: “The council is facing significant changes to its services over the next few years as we respond to unprecedented cuts.

“At the same time, Ealing town centre is at the heart of west London’s exciting regeneration, thanks to developments such as Crossrail, Dickens Yard and improvements to our two shopping centres.

“It’s therefore common sense to look at how we can make the most of our buildings in prime, town centre locations, ensuring they are cost-efficient, offer the best service and value to our residents and play a key part in supporting Ealing’s regeneration.

“The town hall is a beautiful building but is expensive to maintain, in dire need of refurbishment and we’re not making the most of such a prime location.

“Including a commercial element, such as a hotel and possibly housing, could be the ideal solution.

“Equally, as the council’s need for office space changes and the expense of running an ageing Perceval House increases, we cannot ignore the site’s potential.

“This exercise is about looking at ideas from experts in the market on how we get the best for Ealing.”