SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – A popular tourist attraction in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf has permanently closed its doors.

The San Francisco Dungeon, which was an immersive attraction led by dozens of actors, made the announcement Monday on its website.

The attraction took guests on a journey through the dark history of San Francisco.

The company that managed the attraction, Merlin Entertainments, made the announcement with a message posted to its website reading:

“Like The Gold Rush of 1849 and a saloon brawl, all good things come to an end! The San Francisco Dungeon has told its last tales and is now permanently closed. But, be warned, like the ghosts of Alcatraz, our mischief may find new ways to haunt you.”

“That was a great actor-based attraction so a little bit difficult during COVID but that is a great company and attraction that are going to take a time out in San Francisco,” Rodney Fong said. 

Rodney Fong, who is CEO and president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce has watched many businesses close their doors throughout the pandemic.

“We were at one point tracking about 50% of the businesses had closed for temporary or permanently. We still don’t really know that full number that permanently closed,” Fong said. 

While Merlin Entertainments didn’t respond to our requests on Monday or confirm whether this is a pandemic-related closure, Fong says there’s no doubt that the lack of visitors has had a negative impact on many of the businesses by the Wharf.

“We are certainly missing the international, domestic visitors here in San Francisco and tourism, as you know, is such a big part of San Francisco’s economy that it’s a missing hole and when you start to see the downtown and maybe downtown not as full as it normally was part of that is tourism,” Fong said. 

Pre-pandemic, Fong says the city would average up to 20 million visitors each year.

Previously during the pandemic, Pier 39 representatives said they saw an 87% drop in visitors and while people are starting to come back, city representatives say we’re still not seeing the numbers we used to. 

Fong is hopeful that the easing of mask restrictions will bring more people back to the city in the coming weeks.

“We are hoping now with the masks mandates being lifted to some degree here starting tomorrow that we’ll start to see businesses come back, employers start to have to come back to the office which I think is going to be an important piece to support our small businesses,” Fong said.