Memories of Sunderland: The Seaburn Centre
In the location which The Stack now stands in Seaburn, was once another facility. This facility was called “The Seaburn Centre” and was a sports, recreational and community hub which was capable of performing multiple purposes.
The Seaburn Centre was built in 1989. Containing a gym, a sports hall, children’s indoor adventure play park and other facilities. The centre became a distinctive seafront landmark.
Due to its large open sports hall, the Seaburn Centre also held many conventions and exhibitions in its time. In its final years this included the first Sunderland Comic Con and SunnyCon an anime and manga convention. Also famous in past years was its hosting of the Railway Exhibition, which featured scores of model and toy trains.
In addition to conventions, the Seaburn Centre held competitions too. This included the School Games Badminton Finals as part of the Center Parcs National School Championships in 2013. In addition, it also hosted a reception for Sunderland AFC when they returned from their unsuccessful 1992 FA Cup Final at Wembley.
In its final years, the centre was managed by EveryOne Active, who manage the city’s public leisure facilities. However, by March 2017 it was deemed no longer “commercially viable” for the centre to remain open and Sunderland City Council announced its closure, believing the land was now better suited for regeneration of the sea front.
In the following year, 2018, the Seaburn Centre was demolished. In its place came The Stack, an assortment of highly popular bars and restaurants. Are you happy with the change? Do you miss the Seaburn Centre? And do you think the area is better off with The Stack?
