Laurel's Bay and Surf restaurant, a Route 1 landmark recognized by its rooftop lighthouse and known for its cream of crab soup, was demolished this week after sitting empty for years.
Opened by Patrick Edelmann, in 1965, Bay 'n Surf closed after a fire in a walk-in refrigerator's compressor ignited a portion of the building on Valentine's Day in 2007, causing about $500,000 in damages. Then-owner Suzanne Edelmann, Patrick Edelmann's daughter, at the time said the restaurant would reopen in a few months, but the building instead sat empty for more than six years.
In May, arsonists set fire to an exterior closet at the abandoned restaurant, one in a string of nine fire arsons in Laurel last spring that Prince George's County fire investigators said were likely related.
Blogger Richard Friend captured some of the demolition on his Lost Laurel blog.