Remodeling (Fireplace Hearth questions)

[Wh22590]

We have been remodeling a 1978 house and I am wanting to remove the part of my fireplace that is circled in red in my pic. I am worried that removing this will cause the rest of my fireplace to be weak in some way. Can I remove this and sheetrock over the top part(add electric for TV) and put a mantle and tile under the mantle with a narrow electric fireplace? This is currently a wood burning fireplace and I want to be sure I don't mess anything up or I'm not thinking of all the work it may take to do this. Would I just cap the top of my chimney? I'm worried about the structural part mainly because I see pics in here where you can clearly see the Hearth brick isn't really attached to the wall brick. Mine is a tad different than I have been able to find.

Also I have to mention that I am paying a brick guy to come and fix the outside of the chimney because it currently leaks and one guy said he would pretty much cut out some of the mortar and put new on the entire chimney for 3k. Then I had another guy tell me that to just crop it down since we aren't going to use it as a wood burning fireplace for 3k but I'm afraid of how that will look outside. Any info will be extremely helpful. Thank You

 

[webby3650]

You can remove the hearth. Remove all the facing brick if you want. If you never plan to return it to wood burning then you could remove the chimney, you sacrifice curb appeal and would be doing a big disservice to any future occupants. A functioning fireplace is a big asset in the real estate market.