SEVEN options will be offered to community leaders as they consider relaxing restrictions on the future use of Felixstowe’s closed theatre to help find a buyer.

It is now 15 months since Suffolk Coastal announced it was withdrawing the £250,000-a-year subsidy for the Spa Pavilion and started looking for new operators.

Two bids have so far been rejected because the organisations did not have viable sustainable business plans.

On April 2, the council’s cabinet will look at a new approach for the venue.

Geoff Holdcroft, cabinet member for economic development and leisure, said the council’s agents Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) had a few organisations interested in the site, but the majority have concerns regarding the restrictions on its use.

He said: “What April’s cabinet meeting has to address is the range of options now facing us and to make a decision now that will allow us to press ahead with the marketing of the site with the best chance of finding a solution that will benefit both the town and the district’s council taxpayers.

“We have done the best we can do in terms of attracting interest in the Spa, and JLL have been promoting it to an international audience. It may be that we continue trying the same tactics as before for a bit longer or try a new approach so as to make it more appealing to potential investors.

“I would emphasise that JLL’s recommendation is just one of seven different options to be discussed on the night which range from just continuing to market it in the same we have been, all the way through to demolishing the site and incorporating it into the seafront gardens renovation.”