The only problem is, Bathurst Regional Council must ensure that it's not just anything, as is the temptation after seeing the building sit vacant for so long.

The TAFE building occupies a landmark position in Bathurst's main street and as part of the historic Town Square, so whatever shape its redevelopment takes must be fitting of its status.

Council had high hopes the headache had been solved last year when Charles Sturt University showed genuine interest in occupying the building, a proposal that had the even greater attraction of another party to fund the necessary work.

But CSU's well-publicised $80 million revenue drop soon saw those plans shelved and it again became a case of "any takers?"

Happily, there is another genuine proposal on the drawing board.

Respected Bathurst architect Henry Bialowas has conceived a redevelopment of the TAFE building as a "performing arts centre of excellence" and a new home for Mitchell Conservatorium.

The plan has obvious merits: MitCon needs a new home as the Department of Justice prepares to take back some of the space it uses in the court house complex, and the building has always been intended as an educational institution.

As ever, funding it will be a challenge and there is no hope of it ever becoming anything more than a pipe dream without substantial support from the state and federal governments.

But the reason the state government handed the building over to Bathurst Regional Council in the first place was precisely so it did not have to continue paying for it.

It can't hurt to dream, though - and sometimes dreams can come true.