Greater Grays Harbor Inc. on Thursday announced that it it closing its Visitor Information Center located at 506 Duffy St. in Aberdeen.

In a statement, the organization said the decision came after months of careful financial analysis and review of its strategic plan and board mandates.

The facility will close at the end of the year and visitors will be directed to Grays Harbor Tourism for information about events and attractions in the county.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision,” said Dru Garson, CEO of GGHI. “It came down to pure dollars and cents. Our organization can no longer support it under the current arrangement and still maintain its responsibilities to serve local businesses and other economic development priorities.”

The center was originally intended to be temporary and act as added support to other existing tourism efforts put forth by entities focused primarily on that service, according to the press release.

The hardest part about this decision is that we are going to have to lose one of our current staff members,” Garson stated. “When your primary role in the community is job creation, releasing a position and saying goodbye to a valued staff member is made all the more painful.”

The statement from GGHI said the organization “is hopeful that it may be able to work collaboratively with the county to potentially secure a contract that would allow it to stay open into 2019 and beyond.”