Newcastle's lord mayor-elect Ross Kerridge says he plans to establish a presence back at City Hall as part of a return to tradition for the city's top civic office bearer.
The former lord mayor's office, located in the western end of the City Hall, served as the base for more than 30 lord mayors since it opened in 1929.
But that changed in 2019 when outgoing lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes relocated her office to level 6 of the council's new administration headquarters in Stewart Avenue.
Mr Kerridge, who campaigned on a back to basics approach to council administration, said he would have a regular presence at the heritage jewel.
"I'm not sure whether I'll make my permanent office at City Hall but I do want to have a public facing office there," he said.
In the meantime, he will be working out of Ms Nelmes' former office, which is located on the same level as council chief executive Jeremy Bath.
"I'm a cautious person, I don't make decisions on the fly so I will set up initially at Stewart Avenue but I will see how it works out over the next couple of months."
Jeff McCloy, who was lord mayor between 2012 and 2014 , said he was delighted at Dr Kerridge's commitment to City Hall.
"The lord mayor's office at City Hall, with the adjacent council meeting room, is a wonderful community asset that hasn't been used for many years," he said.
"I'd like a study done to see what is the revenue and expenditure for what is a fundamentally vacant building. What uses can it be put to to return revenue to the city?"
"It's exactly the same situation as that wonderful asset at Queens Wharf which has laid vacant for many years and should be put out for expressions of interest for long-term lease to private enterprise. The city gets a return to ratepayers and a wonderful venue on the harbour."
As well as the council chamber, City Hall also housed council's administration staff until the 1970s.
Former independent councillor John Church wrote in the Newcastle Herald in 2021 that he was sad the building had gradually lost much of its crucial role in municipal life.
"After $25 million being spent on City Hall, this proud building has a greatly diminished civic function and is now probably Newcastle's most expensive function centre," he said.
