Pembroke Hamilton Club has been given until the end of the month to pay off a $1.2 million loan from the Bermuda Industrial Union, club sources have revealed.

In 2001, the BIU loaned PHC the monies to finance resurfacing of the playing field and installation of a new lighting system at the club’s Stadium Lane, Warwick property.

The loan was to be paid back over a 17-year period through rental income from PHC’s two-storey building located at 81 Reid Street, Hamilton.

But more than a decade later it is understood that PHC has yet to pay the principal on the loan.

And it is now at risk losing its Reid Street building believed to have been used as collateral in negotiating the loan.

BIU treasurer Cecil Durham and new PHC president Jonathan Ball both declined to comment on the matter.

It is understood that the union initially called in its loan just weeks after BIU leader Chris Furbert lost his bid for re-election as PHC president at the club’s AGM last November.

“The union told the club last December that if they have not paid off the loan by November of this year they are going to try and get the Hamilton property,” said a long-serving PHC member, speaking under condition of anonymity.

However, since then the union has issued a new deadline for the loan to be paid in full, according to club sources.

PHC has suffered considerable losses of revenue in recent years, including the $164,250 they were forced to write off after the tenants of their Reid Street building, Total Home Ltd, went into liquidation.

In 2012, PHC management rolled out several proposals aimed at raising revenue to improve the club’s financial standing and pay off outstanding debt to its creditors.

Among those proposals was the potential sale of PHC’s building in Hamilton, which was strongly rejected by influential club members such as Calvin (Bummy) Symonds and Earl (Townsey) Russell.

Shortly after succeeding Mr Furbert as PHC president, Mr Ball vowed to do “everything in his power” to maintain ownership of the club’s Hamilton building.

But he admitted that selling the building to help the cash-strapped club pay off debt remains an option.

“PHC has financial challenges so unfortunately this option can’t be ruled out,” he said. “The older membership have fond memories of the Hamilton building so I will do everything in my power to keep it.”

It is estimated that PHC’s Hamilton building is worth between $3.2 million and $3.6 million, according to an assessment conducted three years ago.