Manly aquarium demolition starts, six years after it closed

An abandoned aquarium in Sydney's Northern Beaches is finally being demolished after standing derelict for six years.

The building on Manly Cove has been abandoned since 2018, but for more than 50 years before that, Manly Sea Life Sanctuary was a major attraction and even doubled as a wedding venue.

The derelict building attracted social media content creators, dubbed "urban explorers", who filmed themselves exploring the abandoned aquarium.

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"We were boarding it up quite significantly and we know that people were using tools and equipment to enter the building," Transport for NSW spokesperson Julie Sundqvist said.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said it was time for the abandoned building, once called Oceanworld Manly, to come down, with the first demolition works kicking off today.

"The building was becoming dangerous it was an eyesore in Manly and it has to go," Haylen said.

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It's not the average demolition, with construction crews having to work around a shark tank and penguin pools.

The attraction was once home to sharks, stingrays and penguins.

It's expected to take up to four months to knock it down completely.

Sundqvist says the area will be turned into a public space once the building is gone.

"We'll be opening up the space for community use as soon as we can," she said.

Budget restrictions saw the state government scrap the original plan for the area, with a long-term design not finalised.

"This is a huge opportunity for us and this is the first step on that journey," Haylen said.