Future of historic civic centre will not be decided for months

York Council admits a question mark over the fate of the Guildhall is expected to remain for at least another six months despite launching a competition to glean ideas from leading architects for how the Grade I listed building should be used.

The authority will move out of the Guildhall and centralise its operations by March next year into a new multi-million pound headquarters in the city’s former railway station and station hotel dating from the 1840s.

But a council spokeswoman confirmed a timescale for drawing up future uses for the Guildhall has yet to be finalised. Discussions are under way for a temporary use of the building in the summer months of next year, but no long-term plan has been agreed.

Opposition councillors have expressed their growing concerns that a strategy has yet to be clearly mapped out for the future of the Guildhall.

The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Coun Ann Reid, stated her group would have continued to use the Guildhall for council meetings and the democratic base for the authority after drawing up original proposals before losing power in May last year in the local elections.

Coun Reid said: “The Guildhall has been at the centre of the city for centuries and is such an important site, but it extremely concerning that there appears to be no clear plan for its future use. We could find ourselves left with a disused Guildhall in March next year after we have moved into the new headquarters.”

The Conservative group’s leader, Coun Ian Gillies, added: “We need to working towards a definitive strategy for the Guildhall’s future, rather than dealing with uncertainty. All councillors need to be involved in the discussions as it such an important site.”

A detailed vision to centralise the council’s operations was unveiled in March 2008 for the biggest overhaul of civic services the city has seen in the modern era.

While initial plans to build a base on the Hungate development in the city centre had to be abandoned following concerns from English Heritage, West Offices was selected as an alternative site. The council granted planning permission in the summer of 2010 to create the new £32m headquarters there.

Construction work has taken 20 months to complete, and the council took official ownership of the building this week. Senior members of the Labour-run administration maintained work has been continuing behind the scenes to finalise the future use of the Guildhall once the council has vacated the premises.

The winner of a competition staged by the council and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) was named yesterday as the London-based Robert Loader Architects for designs which include creating a riverside piazza. The contest attracted 36 entries from as far afield as Russia, Malaysia and Vietnam - as well as six firms in Yorkshire. A shortlist unveiled last month by the council included five contenders from the UK, but none from the region.

The council spokeswoman confirmed while Rob Loader Architects had been given a £5,000 first prize paid for by sponsors, the company was not certain of being involved in any re-development of the Guildhall site. A procurement process still needs to be held, which is expected to begin next year.

The cabinet member of corporate services, Coun Julie Gunnell, said: “This has been really useful in exploring potential future designs for the site. The next steps will be to develop deliverable options for the use of the Guildhall and explore how we can use the creative outcomes of the competition to inform future plans for this iconic site. This work will proceed in the new year.”

The council has been faced with a need to centralise its services because the existing set-up, with offices scattered throughout the city, has sapped finances. Half of its premises are leased and rents swallow up £1m a year. The relocation will reduce the number of the council’s buildings from 17 to just two and the overall project is expected to cost nearly £44m, with cash previously used to pay rents ploughed in to finance it.

The council plans to continue to own the Guildhall but it is looking to recruit an outside organisation to run the building. Full council meetings will continue to be held in the Guildhall, but both the Tories and the Lib Dems have maintained all meetings should take place there.