Curzon Street Station, the original terminus of the London to Birmingham railway, could house the city's new archive and family history library.
Council leaders are considering using the Grade l listed building at Eastside as part of a split-site library plan.
If the scheme is successful, a refurbished and extended Curzon Street Station would become the venue for a Heritage Centre, containing the city archives.
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The new centre would link to a History Mile, depicting the growth of Digbeth and the birth of Birmingham.
It would put paid to an existing plan to have the Heritage Centre at Millennium Point.
The council was criticised after admitting that a proposed 15,000 square metre extension to Millennium Point would be a basic "box-like" structure.
Whatever happens at Eastside, the second part of the #147 million split-site scheme, a lending and reference library at Centenary Square, will go ahead as planned.
Ken Hardeman, city council cabinet member for regeneration, confirmed that consideration of using Curzon Street Station for the library was in the "very early stages".
Coun Hardeman (Con Brandwood) said: "A number of people have suggested that Curzon Street Station would be suitable for the Heritage Centre and we need to explore in-depth the implications of that.
"It is a listed building of course so there may be some difficulties in altering the internal structure.
"There is nothing of substance to this yet. It is just an idea that we are looking at."
The council cabinet will pledge #2.4 million toward refurbishing the 19th century building (pictured) and Coun Hardeman said he hoped grants from the EU, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council, promised for the Royal College of Organists scheme, would still be available.
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There was no shortage of potential clients who viewed Curzon Street Station as a suitable venue for high-quality offices, he said.
Coun Hardeman added: "As the RCO have acknowledged, the city council made great efforts to try and help them overcome their financial problems and proceed with the Curzon Street project.
"However, this is by no means the end of the story for this historic building.
"The next step will be to try to re-secure the substantial sums of external funding previously committed to the scheme by bodies like the Heritage Lottery Fund. The aim is to secure a quality restoration scheme which will attract potential occupiers."
