Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club, where the Beatles performed roughly 300 times at the start of their career, is going to the auction block.

NME reports that Warner Estate, the owner of the Mathew Street building and the adjacent Cavern Walks Shopping Centre, filed for administration (the British equivalent of bankruptcy) last month and is forced to sell. The auction will be handled by Allsop at the Park Lane Hotel.

Opened in 1957, the Cavern Club was modeled after Le Caveau, a Paris jazz club in a cellar, complete with tunnels and arches. From February 1961 to August 1963, the Beatles played an estimated 292 shows at the club. It was where Brian Epstein first saw the group and approached them about becoming their manager.

However, the current Cavern Club is not the same venue where the band performed 50-plus years ago. The original building was torn down in 1973 when the city of Liverpool was building an underground train system. The new Cavern is a replica of that first venue that was built on most of the original site in 1984, and owned by Liverpool Football Club star Tommy "The Anfield Iron" Smith.

Since the Cavern's reopening, it has served as a live music venue and one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. In 1999, Paul McCartney returned to the club to close out his 'Run Devil Run' tour.

More From 100.7 KOOL FM