POP/ROCK - Feb. 26, 1987

Memphis, Tenn.’s Beale Street entertainment district--acknowledged as the birthplace of the modern blues--may lose its standing as a national landmark because too many of the old buildings have been plowed under to make way for new ones. “When 75% of a building is brand spanking new, you can’t construe that as being a historical structure,” said Cecil N. McKithan of the National Park Service’s regional office in Atlanta. Four blocks of Beale Street are under renovation, and more than $18 million, including about $12 million from the federal government, has been spent on the project over the last five years. One of the first landmarks to go was the P. Wee Saloon--headquarters for W.C. Handy’s band in the early 1900s--which was torn down in 1969.