The 46-year-old tragedy of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, recorded as the seventh deadliest nightclub fire in history, has come and gone: again. This tragedy occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A total of 165 people died and more than 200 were injured as a result of the blaze.
Sprinkler systems that weren’t in place at that time, doors that opened outward, doors that couldn’t be locked, maximum occupancy limits, exit lighting, lights that come on when the lights go down are things we take for granted now.
However, these are the things that came out of the ashes of that fire. We are given a promise in Isaiah 61:3; an amazing promise that out of ashes God will make beauty. “Beauty from Ashes” refers to hope/restoration providing us the strength to overcome though times of death, loss, and suffering.
Interestingly, and sadly, the Kentucky Legislature had begun discussing this issue and some of these very possible situations a couple years before this tragedy took place. During the Legislative Interim from 1974 to 1976, the Legislative Cities Committee held several meetings across the state to discuss construction issues, including safety and regulation. As a result of those statewide committee meetings, House Bill 30, creating a Department of Housing, Construction and Buildings, was introduced by Representative Hank Hancock. It passed the Kentucky House of Representatives during the 1976 General Assembly. However, the bill failed to receive action in the Senate. The issues leading to the development of HB 30 continued to be studied by the Joint Legislative Cities Committee during the interim from 1976 to 1978.
However, tragically on May 28, 1977, a devastating fire swept through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate. The fire was discovered shortly before 9 p.m. and burned throughout the night killing 165 people. Official investigations into what caused the fire were inconclusive, but the most commonly cited factor was aluminum wiring. This brought statewide attention to the lack of building code enforcement and put more emphasis on HB 30 that would have provided proper oversight of the construction industry. HB 44, with few modifications from HB 30, was prefiled by Representative Hank Hancock on October 24, 1977. Governor Julian Carroll signed Executive Order 77-1156 on December 20, 1977, creating the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. The 1978 General Assembly concurred with Governor Carroll’s Executive Order and passed HB 44, creating the current Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction.
Because of the actions of Governor Carroll and the Legislature working together to address this tragedy that cost 165 people their lives and has since changed the trajectory of generations of families, Kentucky is coming up on the 46th year anniversary of the creation of the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. It is not a coincidence that the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction is located in the Public Protection Cabinet that allows us to be able to celebrate 46 years of protecting the public from another event such as this to occur again.
The Division of Building Code Enforcement, Division Plumbing, Division of HVAC, Electrical Division and Kentucky Fire Marshall along with the sections of Elevators, Boilers, Manufactured Housing working closely with the respective trades’ organizations. These committees have allowed Kentucky to stay in the forefront of protecting the public while insuring an educated/professional workforce in all Trades.
Considering the horror of these situations that continue to occur from time to time against the great success Kentucky has enjoyed for 46 years since establishing the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, one cannot help but recognize the continuing support of the Beshear Administration, Secretary Perry of the Public Protection Cabinet, Commissioner Rick Rand, but most notably the past and current professional staff, plan reviewers, and every inspector that is on site continually enforcing current codes. All of these conscientious individuals have prevented another Beverly Hills tragedy for going on 46 years now.
Codes are constantly changing. The very nature of code enforcement in the Department is the approval of administration regulations and code changes that will allow Kentucky to remain at the forefront of code adoption in a seamless, professional, common sense manner. Hopefully this will prevent history tragically repeating itself. What is the value of Public Safety? What is the value of 165 lives? What is the value of 1? George Santayana was credited with saying, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
As we remember and mourn the lives so tragically lost let’s also remember the promise in Isaiah 61:3; “Beauty from Ashes” giving us the strength to overcome though times of death, loss, and suffering.
Jack Coleman was State Representative, 1991-2004, and Kentucky Deputy Commissioner-Housing, Buildings and Construction: 2012-2016.
