Ringo Starr's Childhood Home Likely Set for Demolition

Ringo Starr's childhood home in Liverpool, long scheduled for demolition, has a last hope in one England government official who wants the city to let it be.

According to the BBC, the house is part of a massive rehabilitation project that the city has been planning for some time and involves tearing down some 445 blighted properties, including the rowhouse at 9 Madryn Street where the Beatles drummer spent the first few years of his life.

"Before a single bulldozer rumbles along Madryn Street, I want to ensure that every option has been considered," the official, Housing Minister Grant Shapps, told the BBC.

The trouble is, that may already be the case. A spokesperson for Liverpool's city council said that the house is too ramshackle to be saved and that an "overwhelming majority" of neighborhood residents can't wait for the project to begin.

The home has also been denied a place in the country's historic homes listings, with the English Heritage board noting that the house has "no associations with the success of the Beatles as a group, [and] was only lived in by Ringo Starr for four years after his birth."

The council will consider Shapps' request in the coming months. If they continue with the redevelopment, Shapp and other Beatles fans can take solace in knowing that a nearby home of Starr's in Liverpool, where he lived for nearly 20 years, will not be torn down.

As for the rest of the Beatles' childhood homes, John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's are both popular tourist destinations protected by England's national preservation society, while George Harrison's is still a private residence.