The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake has been designated a National Historic Landmark. The ballroom is best known for hosting the last concert of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson before their fatal plane crash in the early morning hours of Feb. 3, 1959. This has been forever memorialized as “the day the music died,” in a song by Don McLean, “American Pie, in 1971. “The Surf Ballroom is a national treasure,” says Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs Director, Chris Kramer. “You can almost feel the energy and hear the echoes of all the concerts over the years. The soundtrack of the 20th century played live, right here in Clear Lake, Iowa,” she adds. As the most significant and well-preserved venue remaining on the 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour, the ballroom represents the nationwide dance-party tour phenomenon, a trend that helped establish touring as a legitimate business within the music industry. “The Surf exemplifies a pivotal time in music history, one that should be honored and celebrated,” says the ballroom’s Executive Director, Laurie Lietz. “It is our organization’s highest honor to achieve this designation, and we know this will ensure that the music lives on here at the Surf for generations to come.” The ballroom opened July 1, 1948 to replace one that had burned down the year prior. It was designated an historic landmark by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio in 2009 and now joins approximately 2,600 National Historic Landmarks in the U.S., which includes 26 others in Iowa.
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