Three proposals for a multi-million pound seafront redevelopment go on show today.

Brighton and Hove City Council has to choose between the rival schemes for the Black Rock site at Kemp Town, which has been derelict for 25 years.

Two of the schemes offer hotels on the prime seafront site and two propose the first major ice rink for the city since the closure of the SS Brighton, in West Street, in the Sixties.

Brighton architects the RH Partnership are in a consortium for a scheme comprising a 250-room, four-star hotel, spa, seaside winter gardens and conference facilities.

This would create 225 jobs, increase conference space in the city and extend Volk's Railway into the marina.

Brighton International Ice Arena proposes a public ice rink plus a competition rink with 7,500 seats, which could be increased to 11,000 to be used for concerts, basketball, boxing or other events.

It would be fitted out to high specification, allowing television broadcasts and could be used for conferences. There would also be bars, restaurants and shops.

This proposal includes options with and without homes. The homes option has 100 flats in a sail-shaped tower to the east.

The Coot Consortium offers an arena, which could stage skating and shows, plus a 180-room hotel with water sports activities. This could include indoor surfing on a standing wave machine.

The architects are Smith Caradoc Hodgkins. The arena would be based around an ice rink measuring 26m by 56m, which could host other activities, sport and shows.

A separate building would be for surfing, featuring a Flow Rider, which recreates the perfect surfing wave, and a Retro Rider where body boarders ride a moving sheet of water.

The scheme also includes a 180-room hotel, an art house cinema and 40,000sqft of housing.

The council stressed any scheme had to be financially self-supporting.

Developers had to ensure their projects could be funded.

Deputy council leader Jackie Lythell said: "This is an exciting opportunity to develop a rare, prime site and create a bridge between East Brighton and the rest of the city.

"It is important the winning scheme takes account of the location and issues such as transport and the environment.

"Proposing a popular development is easy. Proposing one that is financially and environmentally-sustainable is much more of a challenge."

An advisory consultation panel has been set up for the scheme. It includes residents' and amenity groups, council representatives, businesses and professional bodies to address heritage and conservation issues.

Applicants have to follow a development brief prepared in 2001, which features leisure ideas proposed by residents during an initial public consultation in late 1999.

Options are a hotel, multi-purpose or special event space, an activity centre and extending children's activities on to the Kemp Town slopes.

The council and property managers Cluttons began marketing the two-acre site to potential developers in November 2001.

This included mailshots, brochures and advertisements. Six hundred agents and developers were targeted, resulting in 11 serious contenders.

Culture and regeneration councillor Andy Durr, who chairs a consultative panel on the scheme, is keen to see Black Rock renovated.

He said: "I am urging people to get to either one of these exhibitions and let us have their views.

"This will be the cornerstone of plans to regenerate the seafront east of the Palace Pier and public involvement is very important."

The old Black Rock pool, built in the Thirties, was a top tourist attraction for more than 30 years.

But it started to crumble when the marina was built and it closed in 1978.

Since then, the site has remained largely empty while successive leisure schemes have been proposed.

A privately-funded water park by Themes Schemes ran into huge opposition from neighbours and eventually failed to get finance.

Brighton Council then proposed its own water-based park but never found the money to make it a reality.