Quick Take:
The fire-damaged building in Rio Del Mar succumbed to a wrecking crew on Tuesday, and Lookout visual journalist Kevin Painchaud was there.
Built in 1928, the Seabreeze Tavern will go down in history as “the last remaining building of the Raphael Castro Hotel and the only remaining building of the Aptos Land Company,” which “kickstarted resort development” in Rio Del Mar, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
But in the wake a large fire in June 2020, the historic Spanish Revival-style building was deemed uninhabitable.
And on Tuesday, it finally came down. Lookout visual journalist Kevin Painchaud was there to document the event through this time-lapse:
Here are Kevin’s pictures of the demolition:
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021 to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure last year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021 to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure last year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021 to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure last year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021 to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure last year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021 to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure last year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021 to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure last year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021, to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure the previous year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
Crowds gathered on May 4, 2021, to watch as crews demolished the iconic Seabreeze Tavern after a fire ripped through the structure the previous year. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
After the fire, the Good Times alt-weekly did a deep dive on the building’s colorful history.
As of Tuesday, it was unclear what might end up on the property in the future, Good Times also reported.
Among the more colorful stories about the building, according to Good Times: “Georgia May Derber, who used an inheritance to purchase the bar, ran it into disrepair and then closed it in 1988, living as a hermit in the upper floor, where she was found dead in 2004. A decommissioned toilet on the building’s balcony was among Derber’s legacy.”