Forum Restaurant At Boston Marathon Finish Line Closing Permanently

BOSTON (CBS) – A restaurant heavily damaged when bombs went off near the Boston Marathon finish line will permanently close its doors.

Boston Nightlife Ventures, the owners of Forum Bar & Nightclub, announced on Tuesday that Forum will close for good on March 1.

Forum was one of several buildings damaged during the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013. The restaurant closed for four months to be reconstructed before opening again for business.

"Unfortunately, the current real estate climate on Boylston Street has motivated FORUM's landlord to raise rent this year by nearly three times our current rate," Boston Nightlife Ventures said in a Tuesday statement posted online. "This rent increase makes it financially impossible for Boston Nightlife Ventures to operate and sustain a business at a location that means so much to us and to our city."

Forum employees will be given the opportunity to work at other businesses owned by its parent company.

"A lot of the people who still work there were there on the day of the bombing and a lot of us have met the people who helped us," bombing survivor Heather Abbott said. She had scheduled the kickoff for her fundraiser to be at Forum in April, but now she needs to find a new venue.

Dave Andelman of the Phantom Gourmet was inside when the bombs went off. "The noises just went right through your soul," he says. "And that's how I knew something was very, very, very wrong."

Boston Nightlife Ventures also owns The Tap Trailhouse, Wink & Nod, Griddler's Burgers and Dogs.

A Forum spokesman declined comment, when contacted by WBZ-TV, citing "the sensitivity of the announcement."

Patrons are invited to join Forum for "one last hurrah" before the restaurant closes after dinner service on Saturday.

At the time of its reopening, General manager Chris Loper told WBZ-TV that windows were blown out and downstairs flooring was significantly damaged during the bombings.

"Boston Nightlife Ventures would like to offer our sincere gratitude to FORUM's incredible staff and to each and every one of our patrons, from our regulars to those who came in after the marathon to show their support. We cried together, we smiled together—none of those times will be forgotten," the group said.

Both Andelman and Abbott say the Forum is part of Boston history and a place they go to for the Boston Marathon to show they are Boston Strong.

"It's going to be strange for it to not be there anymore," Abbott said.

"If you could pick a business that I would not want to close, it's Forum," Andelman said.