Newly released official files show that Tony Blair's Labour government was offered a plan to relocate the Millennium Dome.
The Millennium Experience had attracted barely half the projected 12 million visitors and was seen as a white elephant by ministers.
They were presented with a proposal to move the entire thing from south-eastern London to the west of the county.
The scheme was the brainchild of the Science Museum's director, according to papers released to the National Archives.
He suggested in a letter to the prime minister that it could be turned into a museum.
He said that he was writing to you about a different possibility for the Dome.
A unique range of features at a time when such characteristics may, together, provide a unique solution to the challenges of the Dome is presented in this proposal.
He suggested that it could become home to a major new public facility devoted to interactivity and immersively displaying the latest in practical aspects and research into sustainable living.
Mr Sharp said that he didn't know if the plan to relocate a structure in size and height was doable.
He wrote that the approach needed a rapid and detailed evaluation.
The idea didn't catch on among the ministers.
The O2 arena was renamed in 2005 after it was announced in 2001 that the Dome would be developed as a sports and entertainment centre.
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