Since the early 1960s, the India Club has been a historically and culturally significant space for the South Asian community in central London, located inside the Strand Continental Hotel.

Now the India Club is set to close as the owners of the building it is housed in have decided to demolish part of the structure to build a modern hotel in its place. The India Club was established in the 1950s as a place for early Indian immigrants to meet and connect.

The closure of the Club will result in a loss of history for the city, say many patrons. For years, the Club has fought against closure. After collecting thousands of signatures, its owners, Yadgar Marker and his daughter, Phiroza, won their battle against demolition.

Last week, they told the press that the Club would close on September 17.

It has come as a shock to many because the place is steeped in history. The India Club was founded in the 1900s by members of the India League, a British-based organization that fought for Indian independence. One of the Club’s founding members is Jawaharlal Nehru. The Markers acquired the lease on the property in the 1990s. India Club filled a gaping hole in the community. It served dishes that were familiar to the Indian palate, including south Indian staples like dosas (a pancake made from fermented rice) and sambhar (a lentil gravy seasoned with spices); north Indian delicacies like butter chicken (chicken cooked in a buttery curry); street food like pakoras (vegetable fritters) and, of course, coffee and masala chai (a spiced milk tea).

Interiors of the Club were designed to emulate coffee shops in pre-independence India, where people met to talk about culture and politics over cigarettes and cups of chai. Since the Club was established more than 70 years ago, its chandeliers, Formica tables, and straight-backed chairs have remained mostly the same.

Its walls are lined with portraits of prominent Indian and British personalities who have visited over the years, including Dadabhai Naoroji, the first British Indian MP, and philosopher Bertrand Russell. It became a popular “watering hole” for immigrants, as well as people from all walks of life, including journalists and India-British organizations.

Journalist and author Shrabani Basu recalls frequenting the restaurant with fellow journalists in the 1980s. She says the India Club is like the city’s “hidden secret,” and she loves taking friends and family from India there when they visit from India.

Smita Tharoor, a motivational speaker, says her father Chandan Tharoor, who was one of the Club’s founding members, had a lot of fun stories about the place that he frequented as a bachelor, including one about a bar lady who refused to serve drink to drunk men.

Her father took her to the Club when he visited her in London years later. As a result, Ms Tharoor has become a regular visitor. “After my father passed away, I held an event at the India Club in his honour, as well as my husband’s 50th birthday there,” she says. “The India Club holds a very special place in our hearts, and we’re sad to see it go. Now, only the memories remain,” she says.