Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire and Mike Gibbons

On May 28, 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club with its fabled chandeliers, gold flocked white wallpaper, acres of plush red carpets, a sweeping spiral staircase with ornate golden railings and the opulent Cabaret Room that was featuring John Davidson that evening, was the “Showplace of the Nation.” Forty one years ago a fire swept through this beautiful building on the hill like an unstoppable freight train. There were 2500 people in the club that evening, 165 and two unborn babies would lose their lives that night. The once famous club was now in smoldering ruins with the dead and dying lying on the hillside, some not to be found until the fourth day, inside not able to escape. Tragedy had struck Northern Kentucky and was felt throughout the Tri State. What caused this beautiful place once billed as “Las Vegas on the Ohio River” to suddenly go up in flames and leave the area devastated. Was it faulty wiring? Was it arson? Was the mob involved? You’ll hear firsthand from a survivor the nightmare of that evening, and the theories surrounding the cause. Some call it a conspiracy to cover up the most deadly crime in Kentucky history, but is it a conspiracy? Many in the Tri-State today remember the fire as if it were yesterday, many knew people that were there and survived, and many survivors are stuck in the past. Wayne Dammert has a compelling story and evidence of the happenings leading up to that eventful tragic evening when the final curtain fell on the Beverly Hills Supper Club.

Recorded on April 24, 2018

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