Royal Gazette can reveal.

Now Club 21 -- a fixture in Dockyard for six years -- is in the hands of receivers, accountancy firm Price Waterhouse, and up for sale.

And yesterday Shadow Tourism Minister David Allen warned that the closure would damage the attractiveness of the area for tourists by cutting down on the choice of entertainment.

Mr. Allen added that the controversial decision to allow Celebrity Cruises' Horizon to split its time in Bermuda between the West End and Hamilton could have been a factor in the closure of Club 21.

Mr. Allen accepted that the current West End cruise ship carried more passengers than the previous Dockyard vessel Meridian , which was sold off at the end of the last cruise ship season.

But he said: "I'm sure this was not helpful to them to have the number of nights she is in port cut by one night.

"That extra night could be the difference between profit and loss for some small businesses.'' Mr. Allen added: "We have no way of knowing whether that has anything to do with Club 21's problems.

Nightclub in receivership "But going back to the early 1990s, there have been complaints, even by Celebrity Cruises officials, that they were concerned there wasn't much to do at night in Dockyard.

"It's a Catch 22 situation -- passengers being there fewer nights obviously impacts on some businesses up there.'' Mr. Allen added: "We have had concerns for some time that Government has been making some decisions which have been undermining the efforts at the Royal Naval Dockyard, most noticeably by WEDCO, but also by individual entrepreneurs.'' West End Development Company manager George Smith said WEDCO owned the building.

Mr. Smith refused to discuss what WEDCO would like to see happen to the club or whether it was hoped someone else would be prepared to take it over and continue running it in its present form.

And he also refused to say who currently operated the nightclub.

The Royal Gazette understands that businessmen Wayne Ball and Raymond Knight operate the club.

Neither of the men could be contacted for comment yesterday and Geoff Hunter of Price Waterhouse did not return several calls from The Royal Gazette .

News of Club 21's financial woes falls shortly after reports that the owners of Odyssey nightclub are being sued by their landlord.

A writ has been laid in the Supreme Court in the matter of Troy Starr Ltd., the company which reportedly runs the club, by landlord Brunswick Co. Ltd.

BUSINESS BUC