Sunderland's Elephant Tea Rooms will reopen in January but with a very different purpose

Sunderland’s historic Elephant Tea Rooms is set for an exciting new chapter in its history.
The Elephant Tea Rooms is set for another change in its history.The Elephant Tea Rooms is set for another change in its history.
The Elephant Tea Rooms is set for another change in its history.

The Grade II listed building was bought by the council in June and urgent repairs have been carried out to the roof and interior.

Now, the iconic building is set to open as the city's Local History Library in January.

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It will take over the ground and first floor of the building on the corner of Fawcett Street and High Street West holding the largest collection of records and information in Sunderland with photographs, maps, film, trade directories, Corder directories, parish registers and newspapers.

The building's ground floor is hoped to offer better access for customers.

Fiona Brown, Executive Director of Neighbourhoods, said: "It's been really exciting to see this much loved historic building getting some TLC after standing empty for more than a year. We're delighted that by buying the Elephant Tea Rooms, we've been able to safeguard the long term future of this architectural gem.

"It was in a very poor condition when we bought it and had we not stepped in to save it when we did, we could well have lost some of the iconic stone elephants it is so rightly famous for."

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Along with the council, we are interested in hearing your memories of the building and seeing your old photos. They have been working with Living History North East and audio producer Jay Sykes to tell the history of the Elephant Tea Rooms.

The decision is part of a £500m vision to see more people living and working in Sunderland’s city centre with more and better housing and jobs. Such changes include a £100m investment by Legal and General in the Riverside Sunderland Regeneration project, a new railway station on the current site, a new footbridge across the River Wear and more leisure facilities.

The current local studies Library in Fawcett street will close at 5pm on Thursday, December 12 and will reopen as Sunderland Local History Library on Friday, January 31.

During this time, services can still be sourced through Libraries Services and there are smaller local history collections at both Washington Town centre and Houghton Library.

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