The Brighton Centre is to be torn down, it was announced today. Demolition teams will move in to bulldoze the venue in three years' time.

Architects will be asked to dream up a replacement for the eyesore music and conference venue more fitting to the prime seafront location.

Meanwhile, council chiefs will try to drum up the millions of pounds needed to pay for it.

The announcement was made as Brighton and Hove City Council unveiled a multi-million pound package of plans to transform six miles of seafront from the Marina to Shoreham Harbour.

The Brighton Centre, which opened in 1977, will close at the end of 2005. It will be knocked down and rebuilt to open for business in 2008.

The council will look at alternative venues such as the Dome and the Hilton Brighton Metropole to cover the intervening two years.

The Brighton Centre demolition is part of the council's Seafront For All project, revealed today.

Council leader Ken Bodfish said: "Ten years ago Brighton Council announced plans to transform a run-down area of seafront, between the Marina and the Peace Statue, into the vibrant area it is now.

"Today we reveal a coherent vision for a much bigger area of our seafront from the Marina to Shoreham Harbour, with a new Brighton Centre at its heart.

"The aim is to provide something for everyone. We want a seafront that is an asset to local people and which also helps to drive the economy forward and create jobs."

The council sees a new conference centre and venue as vital in preserving 15,000 jobs which depend on visitors to the city.

Coun Bodfish said: "Now this decision has been made, the council will be in a position to create a development brief spelling out its requirements.

"In addition, funding from a private sector partner will be sought to get the multi-million pound scheme off the ground."

Although the centre has been modernised and an east wing has been added, it is not capable of being adapted to meet modern needs and is widely considered an unattractive building.

Other features of Seafront For All include a commitment to preserve Hove lawns as open spaces, to provide top-class facilities at Peter Pan's Playground in Kemp Town and to build new leisure developments at Black Rock in Brighton and the King Alfred site in Hove.

No firm decisions have been made about what will be in the new Brighton Centre but the space is certain to be much more flexible.

It is possible that the main arena will be smaller than at present.

It might be possible to extend Churchill Square and use could also be made of the neighbouring site housing the King's West entertainments centre.

Hoteliers' president Roger Marlowe said: "The Brighton Centre is like an old Ford Cortina. We need a new Mercedes."

Writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe, who chairs the Economic Partnership, stressed that in the seafront vision the historic parts of the city should be preserved and enhanced.

He said: "The seafront will have two modern bookends at the King Alfred and the Marina with the Brighton Centre an ornament on the shelf."