Less than three years after they bought the Vineyard’s premier music venue, the owners of the Outerland nightclub have been forced by mounting debts to put it back on the market.

In a letter that went to creditors late last week, Barry Rosenthal, who is manager and co-owner of Outerland, said the club will close for good Nov. 30.

In his letter, Mr. Rosenthal asked for patience from the creditors.

“We are trying to avoid filing for [bankruptcy] protection and would like to work out a payment settlement plan with you,” the letter said.

“We are actively seeking a suitable buyer who wants to help keep live music alive on the Island,” Mr. Rosenthal wrote. “The club is priced for a quick and efficient sale.”

So closes another chapter in the history of the Island’s largest and most famous music venue.

The nightclub got its start in 1979 when it opened as the Hot Tin Roof, located near the airport in Edgartown and owned by a group including Carly Simon. It quickly became the place to see genuinely world-class acts, partly no doubt, because of the connections of Ms. Simon and James Taylor and their circle of friends.

In 2006, Mr. Rosenthal, along with his wife Mona and brother Arthur bought the Roof, as it was affectionately known, for $660,000.

The plan was to make it a year-round venue, which would host events for all ages and also include a restaurant.

The year they opened, the other local nightclub, the Atlantic Connection on Circuit avenue, Oak Bluffs closed, a coincidence which seemed advantageous, because it took out the competition.

In retrospect, though, it may also have served as a warning of the difficulties to come, both economic and demographic.

“There’s two parts to the Vineyard economy,” Mr. Rosenthal said. “There are fewer and fewer kids [aged] 21 to 30 here. Then there’s the high-end people who live here a couple of weeks a year and entertain at home, and baby boomers who don’t go out that much, especially later at night.

“We were increasingly caught in the middle.”

There were other difficulties too. First the cost of bringing talent.

“I think we did a pretty good job in bringing down costs, but in many areas there are no choices. With hotel rooms, in season, there’s not a lot of bargaining power. With the ferry line there is none,” Mr. Rosenthal said.

Then there were the overheads.

“There’s only one sprinkler company on the Island; there’s effectively only one alarm company. So you pay the prices and it’s a killer. Blow a gasket on a sprinkler and it’s $1,200. The overhead here is excruciatingly high. It’s $100 a day for electricity. It’s probably that for water and sewerage during the season.”

“We got into a business we didn’t know and it took us a couple of years to find it out,” he conceded.

It began to be apparent about this time last year that survival was going to be hard.

“It was tough treading water over winter, but we got to a new season and had a fabulous array of artists, a mix of everything from hip-hop to Jefferson Starship.

“And we tried a lot of events — hunky carpenters and toga parties — anything to get people out. We put thousands of people through the doors, but it was not enough,” he said.

Mr. Rosenthal remains convinced, though, that the nightclub can be viable, and he would like to keep trying to make it so if someone would provide an infusion of capital. He concedes, though, that this is not a good time to be seeking new capital, or for that matter to be selling property.

“No, it’s not a great time be selling,” he said. “All you need to do is turn on the nightly news. On the other hand we have a one-of-a-kind property. And we certainly have people on the Vineyard who could afford to do it.”

He would not name the sale price.

“This thing definitely will be priced right. I don’t want to get to numbers but a serious buyer will see an attractive price,” he said.

And his hope is that it will continue to run as a music venue.

“Outerland was about the music, not the money,” he said, adding:

“My brother and I never took a cent out of the club. I feel we did this for altruistic reasons. We did it honestly, respectfully, tried to be good neighbors. It’s not like we took all the cash out and we’re leaving everyone behind.

“We operated as a family business. Everybody worked really hard. We gave it a great try and we were passionate about it.

“It would be lovely if we could pass the baton. Music is powerful and people work hard to make sure it lives.”

Mr. Rosenthal is listing Outerland with Caroline Taylor properties.