US Navy. It is estimated the Base closure will cost Bermudians an extra $20 million a year in Airport operating and capital costs. But for many, news that the Big Mac is to depart with the Stars and Stripes will be a harsher blow.

Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons broke the news yesterday as he announced that the part of the US Naval Air Station on which the McDonald's restaurant stands will be off limits to the public as of September 1.

Noting that it came under the responsibility of Finance Minister the Hon.

David Saul, Dr. Gibbons said the McDonald's franchise at the Base was a wholly US-owned corporation that had effectively been operating on American soil.

As of September 1, the Base and all that is on it again becomes Bermudian property. Dr. Saul could not be reached for comment.

Franchises have not been allowed in Bermuda in recent times, Dr. Gibbons noted. More importantly, the company would be in conflict with a law that requires all local companies to be 60 percent Bermudian owned. "It would be unfair to have them competing with Bermuda businesses,'' Dr. Gibbons said. "A lot of that area will be closed. It would be difficult for people to get in anyhow.'' At the Base, Cdr. Kit McCulley said McDonald's would remain open up to and including August 31, open to Bermudians on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

The public used to be able to visit McDonald's only on Wednesdays and Sundays.

"As we've wound down, we've opened it up more in order to compensate for the lack of people we have on the Base,'' Cdr. McCulley said.

The Navy galley closed on August 15 and the club at the Base closed in early July, making McDonald's the only place for remaining Base personnel to eat, he said.

"We've just been happy they've been here as long as they have.'' Manager of the Base McDonald's, Mr. Dane Grayson, referred all questions to the States and would not say how many Bermudians were employed at the restaurant.

In New York, restaurant official Mr. Jim Dorsey did not return telephone calls from The Royal Gazette .