SOUTHGATE, Ky. — An agreement has been reached in the fate of the former site of the Beverly Hills Supper Club, including restricting construction on the site of the former Cabaret Room, where dozens lost their lives decades ago.
In October, work on a planned development that would have appeared on the site was halted after nonprofit group Beverly Hills Supper Club Respect the Dead, LLC filed for a temporary restraining order. The 80-acre development, called Memorial Point, would include luxury apartments, single-family homes and an assisted living center as well as a memorial to those killed in the fire.
A press release Tuesday said Ashley Builders Group and the Beverly Hills Respect the Dead Group had reached an agreement.
The two groups have agreed that Ashley Builders will "perform an additional survey to confirm the location of the former Cabaret Room," the Beverly Hills Supper Club's former grand performance hall, where 165 people were trapped and killed by a fire in `1977.
The press release said Ashley Builders has agreed to include a deed restriction that will restrict any construction on the site of the Cabaret Room, where the Beverly Hills Respect the Dead group will be allowed to construct a memorial fountain. Members of the group will be guaranteed access to this memorial in the future, as well, the press release states.
For 43 years, survivors and family members of the deceased have hoped for a memorial to preserve the site. Leslie Henry was 18 when she lost her mother Rosemarie Dischar in the fire.
“That area right there, where they were all stacked up, and the Cabaret Room -- it’s all ashes,” she told WCPO in May. “I feel like if a building was built on top of that Cabaret Room right now, I feel like someone would be building a building on top of my mom’s ashes.”
She said she is hopeful that the Cabaret Room and the hallway where so many lost their lives would be spared from the upcoming development.
“Those two locations should have an elaborate enough memorial to give people a feel for what happened, give those people the dignity that they deserve,” she said.
The agreement includes new plans for the development which must be approved by the Southgate City Council and the Campbell County Planning and Zoning Commission.
