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The sun was beaming down on a bright, clear Monday morning on Carver Street in Myrtle Beach.

But for Herbert Riley, it was the start of a bittersweet day.

Riley and others have worked diligently over the last year or so to get the city to recognize the importance of Charlie鈥檚 Place nightclub and motel.

Charlie鈥檚 Place has long been gone but the small motel next door still stood, at least until this week.

Monday morning, Riley led a ceremony marking the demolition of the shuttered motel. City officials plan to remove the motel and replace it with something to help renovate the Booker T. Washington-Carver Street neighborhood.

Charlie鈥檚 was a prominent nightclub from the 30s to the 60s, thriving during the heyday of segregation.

Though it was located in the predominantly black neighborhood, or the Hill as it was called, young white music lovers would come there to hear and dance to some of the biggest names in the world.

Performers such as Little Richard, Billie Holiday, James Brown and a myriad of other top black performers played the stage at Charlie鈥檚. But because segregation still reigned, they had to stay at the little motel next door. Even though they were some of the most famous names in music, they still couldn鈥檛 stay in the hotels and houses along Ocean Boulevard a couple blocks away.

Last year, Riley and a committee formed to keep the memory of Charlie鈥檚 Place alive, convinced the Myrtle Beach City Council to purchase the property on Carver Street where the motel is located.

There have been meetings between committee members and city staff to try to come up with a plan to showcase the history of Charlie鈥檚 Place.

City officials say the crumbling motel is in too bad of shape to save and decided to demolish it this week.

The city hired an architectural firm to present possible renovation plans for the site. One proposal is to reconstruct three of the motel rooms, highlighting life there along with the history of some of its more prominent guests.

The plan also calls for a market on site or possible other small business opportunities.

Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said there鈥檚 no question about the importance of the Charlie鈥檚 Place site.

鈥淗istory is something we can鈥檛 forget,鈥� Rhodes said. 鈥淚 know this is a sad time for a lot of people but we have to move on.鈥�

City manager John Pedersen said he was excited about what Charlie鈥檚 Place was and what it can be. The city has allocated $710,000 over the next four years for renovation of the site and for improvements along Carver Street.

Pedersen said it was still up in the air of what exactly is going in place of the motel.

鈥淥ur first priority will be the streetscape project along Carver Street,鈥� he said.

Dino Thompson attended Monday鈥檚 ceremony and reminisced about his days in the area.

Thompson said owner Charlie Fitzgerald didn鈥檛 see color when it came to people.

鈥淗e would come to my dad鈥檚 restaurant and nobody thought anything about a black businessman eating with white folks,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淭his was long before the sit-ins in Greensboro.鈥�

He said when he was nine, he heard that Little Richard was playing at Charlie鈥檚 and he talked a couple of the cooks into taking him over to the club that night.

鈥淐harlie sat me on the edge of the stage while Little Richard performed,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ater when I was a teen, Charlie would let me come over and he鈥檇 look after me. He was a great guy.鈥�

Riley said he鈥檚 optimistic that something will be done to preserve the history of Charlie鈥檚 Place.

鈥淭he city seems truly interested in keeping this alive,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a chance to showcase the importance of Charlie鈥檚 Place in the history of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and the music world.鈥�