The Mariner’s Club, a popular social centre run for decades by the Bermuda Sailors Home, is to close on Monday as the charity struggles with its finances.

The charity expects the establishment to be rented by “an outside entity” which may continue running it under the same name, with existing members eligible.

“This is not a decision that has been arrived at lightly, but economically it was necessary,” chairman Bob Greig told members in a letter, explaining that the establishment’s board had been tasked in recent years with “returning the Mariner’s Club to profitability”.

“We regret that it has come to this, keeping in mind the long history of the Mariner’s Club and the great memories we all have. We will feel a certain loss, and hopefully the new management will help keep traditions alive and make us feel welcome in the new organisation.”

Originally based in St George’s, the Bermuda Sailors Home was founded in 1927 and moved three years later into Hamilton.

It has stood on its premises on Richmond Road since 1963.

According to members, the club’s closure would require a janitor and bartender to seek work elsewhere.

Mr Greig’s letter said that the board was working with the Sailors’ Society in Britain to revise its constitution, which “until now has only focused on the social side of the charity’s mandate”.

The aim was to develop “a fully functioning and sustainable centre for the assistance of sailors”.

The letter added that “information has not kept up to the rumours”, and several members who spoke privately with The Royal Gazette said they blamed the management of the charity.

However, when contacted by this newspaper, Mr Greig said the bar had been a victim of difficult economic times.

“Most certainly,” he said. “We have not had the members coming in to use the facility, and it is not open to the general public as a rule. Nobody likes to see it shut down.”

According to the letter to members, the bar had become a “drain” on the charity’s investments.