For nearly three years, the Apex Arts League has dreamed of building a regional performing arts center in Southlake that could seat thousands.

At the same time, city officials have expressed a pressing need for a multi-purpose center with space for youth and senior programs, as well as meeting space.

According to some estimates, building such a facility would cost about $30 million, a daunting task. But developments in the last year have presented a new, less expensive alternative using an existing facility that could go a long way in meeting both sets of objectives.

As Gateway Church breaks ground on its new facilities at its expanded campus north of Texas 114, Apex and city leaders have begun preliminary talks and feasibility tours with church leaders at the existing Gateway building at 2121 E. Southlake Blvd.

Both sides stress that official negotiations have not started. The city has conducted two appraisals on the 14-acre property and is seeking a third one, according to Mayor John Terrell. Terrell has been putting a lot of work in on the project since early last fall.

Gateway plans to move out of the old building by early 2011, but has not made a formal decision whether to sell the building or hold on to it, said Deborah Mash, executive director for media ministries.

The 60,774-square-foot building has a 16,873-square-foot auditorium that seats 1,800 people and a smaller, more intimate auditorium that could seat 300.

"I think there’s a huge opportunity," said Terri Messing, president of the Apex Arts League. "There’s a lot that has to be done negotiation-wise."

She envisions the facility hosting theater and dance performances, jazz and rock concerts, film festivals and art shows — "the gamut of all the different art things that we want to do," Messing said.

The main auditorium is equipped with audio and visual equipment, sound tiles and other design traits that lend themselves to professional concerts and recordings, Mash said. Gateway has done live DVD and CD recordings. Most recently, the church released Wake Up the World, a Christian music CD and DVD that involved 43 cameras and a crowd of 1,800 fans.

"You have great acoustics, great lighting," Mash said. "We do everything in here."

Crews have a soundboard area at the back as well as a catwalk that wraps around the ceiling. Behind the stage there’s a green room where performers can warm up before a show. They’ve even set up bounce houses in the auditorium for vacation bible school. The seats aren’t attached to the floor and tables could be set up to seat 800, Mash said.

If they do sell the building, the majority of the audio and visual equipment would come with it, Mash said. The building has 20 classrooms that could be used for a variety of activities and two rooms with adjacent kitchens.

If the city purchased the building, Terrell said the Southlake Senior Center would likely move out of the building they’ve outgrown on Byron Nelson Parkway.

The city could also create a new youth activity center to give children and teenagers a safe, structured place to hang out. But Terrell said it’s important that the city understand the "full cost" of taking over a facility that size, including maintenance and operation expenses.

For example, the city could generate revenue if corporations and organizations rented the facility. The city is also considering a shared-use agreement with the Carroll school district, who could also use the building for meetings or performances.

For Apex, the possibility of moving into the facility fulfills a mission that started in October 2006 when the organization had its first meeting, Messing said.

At one point, Apex was negotiating with Hines Interests Ltd. to build a performing arts center at the Carillon project, a 285-acre, mixed-use project that will start construction later this year. Hines had considered donating land so Apex could build its own facility, but that proved too expensive compared to the Gateway alternative.