A small piece of Beatles history was reduced to a pile of dust on Sunday in Miami Beach.
The former Deauville Beach Hotel and Cabana Club on Collins Ave. – which hosted the Beatles' second U.S. television appearance as well as crooners like Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones, was imploded via controlled explosions.
The Beatles performed six songs at the hotel on Feb. 16, 1964 – “She Loves You,” “This Boy,” “All My Loving,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “From Me To You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – for broadcast on the Ed Sullivan Show to an audience estimated at 70 million.
Built in 1957, the 17-floor tower was shuttered in 2017 after an electrical fire and years of neglect.
The City of Miami Beach and the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) are trying to bolster laws requiring owners of historic buildings to take care of their property.
David Winkler, a lawyer for the MDPL, told CBS Miami: "Everyone goes back to the Beatles, and you even hear some people disparage it, like 'Who cares about the Beatles, that was a long time ago,' but it's like of all the places in the United States, guess where they played, like right here."
Watch the demolition below:
John R. Kennedy is a member of the Miami Design Preservation League.