One of Fife’s best known institutions has shut its doors for the last time after running into financial problems.
Bowhill War Memorial Club in Cardenden closed at the start of the month.
Club chairman Neil Chatham said: “It’s a relief in a way because of the stress I was under trying to keep it going. It’s sad to see it go, but it’s a relief in a way.”
In the summer of 2010, the Station Road premises was closed suddenly after the electricity supply was cut off.
The energy company refused to allow any more time to pay an outstanding bill of around £10,000. Determined to keep the club open, committee members hired a generator.
Mr Chatham said that while the club was paying for diesel to keep the generator going, fewer and fewer people were turning up.
He said the smoking ban implemented by the Scottish Government in 2006 had contributed to the club’s downfall.
“Fewer and fewer people were coming into the club and we were not getting much income. We were struggling to pay everything.
“The smoking ban didn’t help. It stopped a lot of people from coming out. People also tend to go to the supermarket to get drink now. It’s a different culture. Times change.”
The club suffered a further blow in February last year when it could no longer afford to hire the band Hot Banana.
“It used to be busy on Saturday nights when we had Hot Banana on,” said Mr Chatham.
The club is now set to be put on the market.
Mr Chatham added: “I don’t know what’s going to happen to it now. It depends who buys it and what they want to do with the building and the land whether they want to have houses there.”
When the club was plunged into crisis, Cardenden councillor Mark Hood wrote to Npower chiefs to try to convince them to reconnect the electricity supply and give the community more time to raise the cash to clear the slate.
He said: “Bowhill War Memorial Club has been a mainstay of the community for many generations and it’s sad to see it go.
“People worked in the bar and as caretakers and this will have an impact on those individuals who have worked hard.
“I certainly think it will have an impact on the community from a number of angles. Despite the hard work of the committee members and the community, it was quite clear the debt that had been racked up was going to be too difficult to clear.
“It’s sad and unfortunately we have lost a vital asset to the community. The situation was compounded by the smoking ban, compounded by cheap alcohol and compounded by one of the worst recessions we’ve seen, certainly in my generation.
“It all came together in the perfect storm. Obviously people have cut their budgets and one of the things people have cut is the socialising aspect.
“Now we have to look at the other facilities we have and how to make more of them. We have a fantastic asset in the Bowhill Centre, which we can hopefully build on.”