The empty former railway museum in Faringdon Road should be used to house Swindon's Central Library, according to Councillor Nick Martin.
Coun Nick Martin, chairman of Swindon Council's scrutiny commission, argues the historic building is perfect for the facility.
He says it would be a quick, affordable option following the collapse of the £100 million private finance initiative scheme to replace the ramshackle hut in Regent Circus that has served the town for 27 years.
That scheme involved creating a network of quality cultural facilities around Regent Circus, funded mostly by selling council land to housing, office and retail developers.
But the Advertiser revealed on Tuesday how, despite the scheme winning £4 million PFI backing from the Government, the council has had to abandon it because it cannot find enough money to top up the private cash.
Under that scheme, the library's floor space would have been 3,500 square metres, whereas the old museum currently has only around 700 square metres of space.
Coun Martin (Con, Shaw and Nine Elms) says the council may now need to scale down its plans and plump for a more achievable project. He said: "If you can squeeze a couple of old train engines into the building, I'm sure it's big enough to store library books. It has undoubtedly got more floor space than the current library and it is tall enough to put in another mezzanine floor at not too much cost. The building is already owned by the education and community department."
The museum closed in 1999 to make way for its lottery-funded successor, Steam, and has stood empty ever since.
The grade II listed building began life in 1849 as a lodging house for railway workers, but was mostly used as a Wesleyan chapel, before being converted into the railway museum in 1960.
Library chiefs are known to be sceptical about using the building for the central library due to its location away from the main town centre area.
But Coun Martin argued: "Villet Street car park is only a short way away, it is near to pedestrianised Fleet Street and a short distance from the bus and railway stations. Why wait around when we've got a lovely building located in the town's most historic area on the edge of the Railway Village waiting to be used?"
Coun Martin has asked the council's head of community, Sue Stockwell, to arrange a visit to the museum for scrutiny commission members in the next few days.