A 75-year-old man who worked at Petersfield's Savoy Cinema more than 60 years ago returned to say goodbye to the building this week after news that it will be demolished in a fortnight. Dusty Davis accompanied Petersfield historian David Jeffery, who was given permission to film the building before it is torn down. His records and pictures presented to the town will be on view in the town's museum. The cinema will give way to a block of 14 flats with a restaurant and bar underneath. Managers Richard and Sam Luff were only told of the nightclub's closure on Monday – and then had to break the news to their 20-strong part-time staff. Three days earlier, 450 people were at the club on Saturday night completely unaware that it would be their last visit to the popular nightclub. Richard and his wife Sam have been managers at the club for almost 11 years. He told The Herald: "We have known since February that this was going to happen, but this has been very sudden and has come as a big shock. "We had a very busy night on Saturday with around 450 people here, little knowing it would be their last time in the place. "We feel we have been a real part of the town. It has been brilliant being here and we would like to thank all of our regular customers." But now the couple, who live in Midhurst, are preparing to leave the Swan Street building and will have to find new jobs. On Wednesday, Mr Davis returned to the Savoy one last time to relive some of his memories. He worked as a junior in the projection room when he left school at the age of 14 in l946, and was a frequent visitor to the cinema as a child. "We used to queue out there, way past the Salvation Army building, to get in to see films," he said. "Right at the top were the 2/3d seats and further down were the best seats in the house, at 2/9d. "Mrs Legoubin used to play the piano in front of the screen when we were waiting for the films to start," he recalled. "When I worked here we used to come in early in the mornings to clean up the projection rook and the usherettes used to be cleaning the cinema. I used to be the go between between the the manager, who was Mr Leon, and the projectionist." Climbing the stairs to the top floor, he recalled where the foyer stood: "This was the posh area," he said, "with furniture all round the walls and people used to wait here for the films to start. It used to look so large, now it doesn't seem so big at all. "There used to be a restaurant off the foyer," he recalled, "but it seems to have been cut off over the years and now there is a beer cellar there." Mr Jeffery told The Herald: "This is the loss of a once tremendous asset to the town and it's a huge shame that we can't use even part of the building, as it still exists in its l935 setting, or save the front facade. Quite clearly, it is a l930s icon." He said The Savoy building was one of only two public buildings left in Petersfield from the l930s, the other is the town hall. Two years ago, Petersfield Society launched a campaign to save the building and met developer Regional Inns Ltd. "They put forward their proposals and we asked if it was possible to save part of the building, but we were told it was economically unviable," said Mr Jeffery. "The key to the loss is that this building is not listed and not in the conservation area, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it being knocked down." The Swan Street building has been home to Petersfield's only nightclub for more than a decade. Originally known as Oscars, it became Vertigo in l999 and has been managed by Sam and Richard Luff for nearly 11 years. The Savoy cinema closed in l985 when the last film shown was Ghostbusters. Planning permission was granted in February this year to demolish the building and replace it with 14 flats and a restaurant and bar underneath. This week, Sandra Bryant, director of Regional Inns Ltd which was granted the planning permission, told The Herald that the Ascott Group had recently bought the former Savoy building.