This place has a lot of History behind it. I wanted to place
this for a memorial of the victims and for people to know what
happened at this place. For the longest time there where no
signs stating what happened. There was nothing to acknowledge
the great tragedy that had happened here or for what this place was
before the tragedy happened. I also wanted people to know
some of the history of this place before the tragedy.
Just recently they have put up a sign marker at the entrance of
the driveway. After 30 years I think it is about time and
long over due for that sign or anything for a memorial for the
victims.
For me this was a Forgotten History, or you could even say an
unknown history. For about 25yrs, I never knew what happened on
that hill. I have went to the medical center that is located below
and never even known. I have drove by here numerous times and
had no clue.
Finally I was going to a Red's game with my dad and we drove by
the sight and he mentioned something about what had happened
there. He always thought that they would make a movie out of
it. That is when I finally started to know. I was
shocked to find out a nice place that ended in such tragedy and
took so many people with it had happened in the area that I live
in.
Here is a lot of info on this place. I have found from a lot of
different sources.
1930's
In the early 1930's Peter Schmidt, a convicted moon shiner, built
and opened the original Beverly Hills Supper Club on a 17 acre
site. He also build the Playtorium on Fifth Street in Newport that
today is the site of The Syndicate restaurant.
Peter Schmidt
According to old-timers involved in Northern Kentucky gambling
and entertainment, before World War II, the mob saw the potential
in Beverly Hills and wanted to buy it from Mr. Schmidt. He refused,
and the building mysteriously (or maybe not so mysteriously) burned
on February 3, 1936. Mr. Schmidt rebuilt, but continued pressure
finally convinced him to sell and build a new gambling
establishment.
Back in the early 1930's there was a case where 4 men robbed a
car that was believed to be carrying cash from the Glen Hotel in
Newport to the Beverly Hill Supper Club. The story goes that
they waited down by Moock Road and actually stopped several cars
before they got the right one. What made it so unique was
that they supposedly took about $10,000, but the crime was never
reported. Word leaked about what had happened and there was a
grand jury investigation, but nothing came of it and the robbers
were never caught.
Beverly Hills 1949
1950's
Celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were visitors to
Beverly Hills. There are many stories of entertainers who dropped
large amounts of money in the casino.
1960's
Gambling was never legal at Beverly Hills, but it flourished for a
number of years. Federal pressure put an end to gambling in the
early 1960's. George Ratterman was elected in the early 1960's as
Campbell County Sheriff as part of a campaign to clean up gambling
in the county. In 1961 after changing ownership quite a few
times over the years the club shuts down.
When federal pressure put an end to gambling Beverly Hills stood
empty for almost a decade. On October 11, 1969 the club
reopens briefly under the ownership of 2 Atlanta based
partners. The club closed shortly after it's reopening.
On December 30, 1969 the club is deeded to the Schilling family who
plan to renovate and expand and reopen the club.
Entrance from US 27
1970's
On June 21, 1970 A predawn fire destroys much
of the unoccupied structure, still under construction. A state
arson investigation will prove inconclusive.
The Schillings upgraded the facility and reopened the new
Beverly Hills Supper Club to the public on February 10, 1971 with
dining and top-notch entertainment. For several years it been an
extremely popular establishment which was famous for good food,
fine wine, lavish banquet facilities and first class
entertainment.
Its sprawling 78 acres contained lush gardens, a separate
chapel, an ornate gazebo area and lovely paved walkways lined by
masonry statues.
The structure, itself, covered 75,000 square feet, most of which
was two stories high. Its resplendent Cabaret Room had four levels.
Billed as “The Showplace of the Nation,” the many
reception rooms, dining rooms and showrooms made up what was said
to be the largest supper club between Las Vegas and the East
Coast.
The Beverly Hills Supper Club was one of the most luxurious
venues of its time, offering banquet and meeting facilities for
groups from 20 to 1,000. A beautiful central hallway lined with
mirrors had an open, curved stairway known as the Cinderella
Stairway, which was itself lavishly decorated.
The Schillings applied for a building permit on July 8, 1974 to
add a larger showroom. On August 10, 1974 A small fire,
breaks out in the club's electrical control panel, apparently
caused by a short circuit. The flames were put out with an
extinguisher. An insurance claim puts damage around $1,635.
The new showroom, the Cabaret Room on November 11, 1974 opens to
the public. In the Zebra Room (designed to accommodate smaller
parties) construction is completed in 1975. Also in 1976 in
the Garden Room construction is completed.
A state-ordered fire inspection on January 27, 1977 concludes
that in case of emergency evacuation should be no problem with the
existing exits.
Empire Room
May 28, 1977
It was an extremely busy afternoon and evening. A lot of people
were in there that day, more than usual probably. There were a lot
of things going on at the club that day—a wedding reception,
retirement parties—and it was a holiday weekend.
It was a warm Saturday night on Memorial Day weekend 1977, and the
Beverly Hills Supper Club was hopping with between 2,400 and 2,800
people. That night John Davidson was scheduled to headline the show
at the Beverly Hills Supper Club. In the Cabaret Room there where
around 1,360 guest packed in where Davidson would perform.
Though recovered from the club seating charts indicated the room's
normal capacity as 614 with a maximum of around 755.
In addition to the Davidson show in the Cabaret Room, the Greater
Cincinnati Choral Union and the Afghan Hound Club of Southwestern
Ohio were each using three of the upstairs Crystal Rooms for
dinners; the Savings & Loan League of Southwestern Ohio and
Northern Kentucky was holding an awards banquet, and a wedding
reception was breaking up early in the Zebra Room. The people
at the reception complained about the temperature in the room; the
thought was that the air conditioning was broke. Instead,
improperly installed aluminum wiring was smoldering.
About 8:50 PM, the comedy team of Jim Teeter and Jim McDonald
were getting the audience ready for John Davidson’s
performance that was supposed to start around 9:30pm. Around
the same time a reservations clerk that worked at the club smelled
smoke. She tracked the smell to the Zebra Room, she opened
the door and seen fire. A bartender grabbed a fire
extinguisher and raced to the Zebra Room, returning just moments
later he tells a waitress to call the fire department and get the
people out of there. The Campbell County Dispatch Center,
however, doesn’t log their first call on the fire until
9:01.
Meanwhile between 9pm and 9:06pm a 18yr old busboy named Walter
Bailey jumped on stage and interrupted the comedy act and took the
microphone and announced that there was a fire else where in the
building and people should leave and mentioned where the exits
where. Many in the crowd laughed at the teenager.
They believed it was all part of the act.
The fire started in the Zebra Room (believed to be started by
faulty electrical wiring) started to gain much fuel from all the
combustible materials. It spread throw the main corridor heading
towards the Cabaret Room and Garden Room where smoke and toxic
gases where entering. The fire spread rapidly, consuming
curtains, carpet and seat cushions that spewed a toxic gas and
thick black smoke. The fire raced up the spiral stairs from
the Zebra Room, blocking an exit for almost 200 people.
The first fire rescue unit arrived on scene around 9:04pm.
Around 9:11pm people started to believe the busboy inside the
Cabaret Room, smoke starts really filling the room followed by a
burst of flames. Inside the building people started shoving
and pushing trying to get out. When the lights went out
people really started to panic. People pushed and yelled and
some where jumping table to table to get to one of the three small
exits. People started to trample other people on there way to
the exits some people fell beneath the surging crowd. The
whole thing turned into the worst nightmare.
Two doors each swung in one direction and one quickly became
blocked shut from the pressure of the crowd. Bailey, who had gotten
out, was helping pull patrons through into the open door. "I
would stand outside and fill my lungs up, and hold my breath and go
in. The smoke was punishing," he said. "I grabbed what I think was
a woman's arm. And she did not budge."
Those stuck were moaning and calling for help, waving arms and
coughing. Bodies began piling atop one another. The moans
slowly quieted as more and more people were over come by the
smoke.
"You could hear explosions every 10 minutes," one person stated.
"We were pulling bodies out the back of the showroom one and two at
a time. You'd go to a wall and lay the bodies; the rest we'd take
to the chapel, a makeshift emergency room. Pretty soon, everyone
you grabbed a hold of was dead."
Outside, the dead were laid on the ground with napkins over
their faces, as survivors stumbled around with blank, stunned
looks, searching for loved ones.
The heat in the Cabaret Room hit 2,000 degrees, burning some
bodies beyond recognition.
Throughout the night rescue workers and firefighters tried battling
the blaze and rescuing people trapped inside and pulling out dead
bodies.
The fire was not brought under control until around 2am.
By morning, with the building still smoldering, the extent
of the disaster became clear. The building had been mostly consumed
by fire, with little still standing. The charred rubble still hid
bodies.
You are looking at the beginning of the driveway, the driveway
still remains
today.
This is what you would see from the parking lot if you looked up
the hill
The Ft. Thomas Armory became a make shift morgue for the victims
in the fire. While there it had become clear that most
people died of smoke inhalation and not consumed by the flames.
The families and friends that had missing loved ones came here
to try to find their loved ones.
The total death tool
reached 165 people plus 2 unborn babies.
Here link to
the names of the people that lost their lives in the
fire
A few months later, a National Fire Protection Association
report found that the delayed discovery of the fire, attempts by
employees to put it out; the lack of evacuation training for
employees; inadequate exits; the lack of a sprinkler or alarm
system; and the Cabaret Room that was at almost triple capacity all
contributed to loss of life.
But Cincinnati attorney Stanley Chesley, who had filed a suit to
stop what remained of the club from being bulldozed, assembled
experts to examine how and why the fire spread, instead of just how
it started.
A federal judge consolidated 281 plaintiffs' cases into a
class-action suit and Chesley took the novel approach of suing not
just the Schillings (who settled for $3 million), but also the
manufacturers of materials he blamed for starting and spreading the
fire or emitting toxic fumes. That included the aluminum wire
manufacturer. He also sued a utility company for failing to inspect
properly before providing electricity.
Chesley won $49 million for victims, and in turn developed a new
approach to mass injury lawsuits. The suits helped halt the use of
aluminum wiring.
The fire prompted the National Fire Protection Association,
whose standards are adopted in cities across the United States, to
require sprinklers for the first time for public-assembly buildings
holding at least 300 people. Fire alarms were also required for
similar buildings. And it placed new attention on exit designs and
construction signs.
In Frankfort Kentucky, they fired the state fire marshal and
created the Kentucky Department of Housing, Building and
Construction. The state took over building inspections. Kentucky
eventually adopted more uniform codes for safety doors, exits,
building materials, wiring and other materials.
Since the fire there has not been anything built on the
sight. There was a proposed mall and a few other things, but
they all have been shot down
This is all just a summary of what had happened that
night. There are many different stories from different
people. The place was huge with a lot of people inside that
night. There is a lot of people survived and came forward to
tell there story of that tragic night. There is just so much
information on that exact night that it is hard to put it all in
this description.
If you would like further reading there are many articles and books
on the fire and there any many different people's stories of their
own personal experience at the fire. They are all just too
numerous to mention here on this page.
Here
is a video special on the fire