The Wareham Information Center, a resource for residents and tourists, will not reopen this summer. The Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce, which ran the center, has closed it due to budget constraints, and the building's owner is looking for new tenants.

Located on Main Street, the visitor center had been open seasonally for five years and costs about $10,000 per year to operate, said Marie Oliva, president and CEO of the chamber of commerce. The chamber, a nonprofit, has to raise the money to run the center, a task which gets more difficult each year in the current economic climate, she said.

"We've decided we do have to consolidate, we do have to cut back," Oliva said.

The Wareham Information Center had been operating with reduced hours for the past couple of years in an effort to keep it open.

The Wareham Village Association, which held meetings in the building, moved out last month, said Wareham Village Association Event Coordinator Jacqueline Lindsey.

Lindsey said she explored various ways to keep the center running, but ultimately, "it wasn't financially feasible for the village association to maintain the building," she said. The association would have had to pay staff, rent, and utilities.

"I'd rather put the money we raise into our events," Lindsey said. "Local businesses have generously offered a space for us to continue our meetings."

Wareham residents and visitors can go to the Interstate 195 Visitor Center and the Onset Bay Association at 4 Union Avenue for all information.