Historic granite from a former Aberdeen hospital now under demolition will be used in hundreds of new homes.
A piece of history came down yesterday as diggers ripped apart parts of the upper and lower sections of the Royal Cornhill Hospital.
The demolition will pave the way for 323 homes, and building work is expected to start at the end of the year.
When the plans first emerged, there were concerns that the granite from the demolished buildings could be scraped.
But now the developers have confirmed they will use the building material as part of the new homes.
The joint proposals from NHS Grampian, Stewart Milne Homes and Barratt North Scotland received planning approval by councillors in February.
The lower hospital, which was originally the Royal Lunatic Asylum, is to be knocked down, while five buildings making up part of the upper hospital will be converted into homes.
A spokeswoman for Stewart Milne said: “We’ll be using the granite throughout the development on the external elevations of the new homes and also to make some of the communal buildings, such as bike storage areas.”
The disused hospital buildings have been repeatedly targeted by fireraisers over recent years.
In June, around 20 firefighters spent half and hour battling flames from the site while on Guy Fawkes Night, 2013 a major deliberate blaze was set taking ten hours and 70 firefighters to extinguish.
Councillor Bill Cormie, who represents the Midstocket and Rosemount ward, praised the developers in their “speedy” start to works.
He criticised Broadford Works owner Ian Suttie for doing nothing with his nearby site despite being given was given permission by the Scottish Government in 2013 to create a £50million “urban village”.
The site has also since been repeatedly targeted by firebugs.
He said: “They were only given permission in January and the bullodozers have already started.
“There were horrendous fires at Cornhill so it’s really good to see that such quick action has been taken.
“Broadford has been lying empty for years and years and Mr Suttie has done nothing.
“He should maybe take a leaf out of their books.”
Mr Suttie could not be reached for comment last night.