Feb 9, 2007 12:47 pm US/Central
Dallas Hard Rock Cafe To Close
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Officials said The Hard Rock Café in Dallas will shutter its doors on in early March.
The restaurant at 2601 McKinney Ave. was originally built in 1904 as the McKinney Avenue Church.
It was converted to the fourth U.S. Hard Rock Café in 1986 and the ninth in the world. The first Hard Rock Cafe opened its doors on June 14, 1971, in London.
In keeping with its former worship theme, the Dallas location is famous for 50-foot high stained glass renderings of Elvis, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as a beautiful domed ceiling.
Collections of rock 'n' roll memorabilia adorn all 124 Hard Rock Cafes around the world. There are four Hard Rock Hotels, two Hard Rock Casinos and two Hard Rock Live! concert venues.
In December, the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida purchased the Hard Rock business for $965 million. According to the Associated Press, the deal with London-based Rank Group PLC was believed to be an American Indian tribe's first purchase of a major international corporation of its size.
The Seminoles were the first U.S. tribe to get into the gambling business in 1979. The December deal, however, did not include Hard Rock's Las Vegas casino, which is owned by Morgans Hotel Group/ Also not included in the purchase was Morgans' rights to Hard Rock intellectual property in Australia, Brazil, Israel, Venezuela and many areas of the United States west of the Mississippi River, a Morgans official said.
Peter Morton co-founded the Hard Rock brand in 1971 and sold his chain of Hard Rock cafes to the Rank Group for $410 million in 1996.
Many people – including current and former staffers – claim the Dallas building is haunted.
In the past, workers have reported hearing heavy footsteps there despite seeing no one on the stairs.
CBS 11 visited the Hard Rock in October with a group of ghost hunters.
During their late night visit, one of the ghost hunters took a digital photo and noticed a white, translucent orb. Ghost hunters think this might be spirit energy. Throughout the years, staffers and patrons have told stories of hearing noises, feeling someone else in the room or taking photos when they know no one else was there.
In a statement issued by Hard Rock International Friday, the company said it is "exploring other opportunities in the area, including a Hard Rock Hotel/entertainment complex and more strategic locations for a Hard Rock Cafe in this market."
According to the Dallas Business Journal, an employee who answered the phone at the restaurant Friday said the restaurant is not discussing the matter and referred questions to its public relations company.
The chain's Austin location closed its doors in January.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
