Number 9 Madryn Street, the run-down birthplace of Ringo Starr, is no Graceland or Neverland. But Britain's national housing minister is now pressuring the local Liverpool council to find a way to save this little piece of Beatles history.
The house and the surrounding neighbourhood had a date with the wrecking ball, but a U.K. government official stepped in and halted the destruction, after some residents and fans of the Beatles rallied to support the famous drummer's first house.
Ringo, born Richard Starkey, lived at 9 Madryn Street briefly as a child. When he was four, his parents moved away. The place was boarded up last October after authorities realized that tourists were taking away bricks of the building as souvenirs.
Built in the late 19th century to accommodate Welsh migrant workers, the houses on Madryn Street are two floors, built side by side, with a pavement backyard.
Born in 1940, Ringo lived his first few years on Madryn Street, during some of the heaviest bombing of Liverpool during the Second World War.
Hundreds of other homes in the Welsh Street nieghbourhood were condemned last summer, as part of the Liverpool city council's housing renewal program.
U.K. housing minister Grant Shapps intervened Monday and ordered temporary reprieve for 9 Madryn Street. The city council will decide sometime this month whether to move ahead with the demolition, or order public consultations.
One proposal is to move the house, brick-by-brick, to a nearby museum.
Although the house has historic value, many in Liverpool believe there's more value in building new, affordable housing for low-income residents.
Others think Ringo's old abode -- and the community in general -- has potential for restoration as a tourism draw.
The location brings in hundreds of tourists a year looking to take photographs of the birthplace of one of the Beatles.
"This should be down to local people to decide," Shapps told reporters. "I'm not convinced that the scheme, the demolitions that have been going on there, have met entirely with local popularity."
Many of the homes in the Welsh Streets, an area of Liverpool that was built around Irish and Welsh roots, are vacant.
The SaveMadrynStreet website quotes Ringo, now aged 70, as opposing the demolition plan. He says it should be "done up" rather than being knocked down.
The campaign stresses on the website that its efforts are "NOT for Ringo who has enough homes of his own."
Instead, campaign organizers say they are acting on behalf of "Beatles Fans Internationally who contribute millions to the local economy for hotels, restaurants etc. They come in their thousands to see the Beatles' sites so this is for them, the fans, past present and future."
