The empty shells of well-known Sunderland buildings caught our eye in these 9 scenes from the Echo archives.
Their finest hours may have been behind them but we still have these memories of the last days of Kwik Save, the Excel bowling alley, Locarno and Crowtree Leisure Centre.
The Grand Hotel, the tower block at Caterpillar in nearby Peterlee and the Seaburn Centre are also in view.
Join us on a retro trip round the last days of these buildings you may well remember.
![Stores, a hospital, and a crane factory warehouse.
We've got reminders of them all in this inside the shells of Sunderland buildings you will remember.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2023/10/30/10/50/Collage%20Maker-30-Oct-2023-09-59-AM-4236.jpg?crop=3:2&width=800)
1. Remnants of the past
Stores, a hospital, and a crane factory warehouse. We've got reminders of them all in this inside the shells of Sunderland buildings you will remember. | se
![The remains of the Grand Hotel in Bridge Street before its demolition in 1974.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2023/10/30/9/00/em7.jpg?crop=3:2&width=800)
2. A shadow from the 70s
The remains of the Grand Hotel in Bridge Street before its demolition in 1974. | se
![Kwik Save as it looked after its last day of trading in Park Lane in 2003.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2023/10/30/8/24/em1.jpg?crop=3:2&width=619)
3. Memories from Park Lane
Kwik Save as it looked after its last day of trading in Park Lane in 2003. | se
![A 2006 view inside an empty building at Grove Cranes.
It shows an art project involving a film which was being created by Sunderland Arc.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2023/10/30/8/29/em3.jpg?crop=3:2&width=800)
4. Poignant at Grove's
A 2006 view inside an empty building at Grove Cranes. It shows an art project involving a film which was being created by Sunderland Arc. | se