The historic SEATTLE venue where NIRVANA performed 'SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT' publicly for the first time nearly 10 years ago, is to be knocked down.

During the recent earthquake that shook Seattle and measured 6.8 on the Richter Scale, city centre venue the OK Hotel suffered extensive structural damage and building inspectors have ordered that it has to be bulldozed.

A popular venue with many local grunge musicians, including Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, the OK Hotel achieved notoriety for being the place where Nirvana first played their earth-shattering hit on April 17 1991. Rare footage of the performance featured in Doug Pray's 1996 'Hype!' documentary.

The venue also featured in Soundgarden's video for 'Pretty Noose' and doubled as the coffee bar where Citizen Dick - the band featuring Matt Dillon and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard - hung out in romantic comedy 'Singles', set in grunge-era Seattle and directed by 'Jerry Maguire' and 'Almost Famous' director Cameron Crowe.