Sadly a piece of my childhood was lost today. As you may know a huge fire broke out on the Universal Backlot and among the loses was the Courthouse Square set from Back to the Future. The set goes back all the way to 1949 when it was used in Ma & Pa Kettle and was previously known as Mockingbird Square as it was used in To Kill A Mockingbird.

But these days it's best known as the square where the infamous Clocktower stood in Back to the Future. The set was being used on CBS' Ghost Whisperer, no word on what will happen with that show.

Unfortunately the set wasn't the only thing lost in the fire. Many of the street facades, including the New York streets featured in many movies including The Sting were also destroyed.

But possibly the most heartbreaking loss is the rumored loss of the Universal Film Vault. If destroyed this could mean that some movies have been lost forever. It's unknown at this time if the Vault truly was destroyed but that's the word about town. It's unknown whether copies of the movies in the vault were also kept in another location, but if not this could be a huge loss to film buffs everywhere. Apparently what burned was the videotape warehouse which contained archives of television shows and movies going all the way back to the 1920s. The LA Times reports that NBC Universal Chief Executive Ron Meyer said the tapes were copies and could be replaced.

The damage is estimated to be in the tens of millions.

Labels: Back to the Future, News