A defunct swimming pool complex which has stood in a north-east town for decades was reduced to rubble yesterday.
Demolition experts got to work on Fraserburgh’s outdated baths and community centre, which were closed and boarded up by Aberdeenshire Council last year.
The property was no longer needed after the launch of the town’s new £9million facility at James Ramsay Park.
Yesterday morning, bulldozers arrived at the 1960s-built Alexandra Terrace building as demolition experts Safedem started the process of razing it.
Project leader, Paul Duffy, said: “Once we got started on the building, it didn’t take us long to bring the whole thing down. There were no problems at all.
“Now it’s just a case of getting all the debris into skips and clearing the site.”
Earlier this year, councillors were told that the vacant plot could fetch as much as £175,000 on the open market.
The demolition work cost £143,000.
First refusal on the site will go to the council’s education department and selling it would be a last resort.
The pool, next to Fraserburgh Academy, was built in 1969 and was the oldest of its kind in Aberdeenshire.
Residents mounted a campaign for new leisure facilities more than a decade ago after a flood of complaints about the state of the baths.
In 2005, the dilapidated building was closed for a wide-ranging inspection after staff reported cracked tiles, decaying concrete and puddles of water around the main tank.
Nearly 10,000 locals signed a petition calling for a new pool.
The James Ramsay Park centre was officially opened by Scottish football star Kim Little in August 2012.
She said the new facility gave adults, young people and children the chance to do a range of activities.
As well as a 25-metre, six-lane pool, the centre has a cafe and sports hall.