May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Liverpool's Strawberry Field children's home, a childhood hangout for the late Beatles star John Lennon about which he wrote a song, isn't forever: it closes today after nearly 70 years.

The last child to live at the center left last week, and the orphanage closes its doors for care work today, the Salvation Army, which runs the site in northern England, said in a statement posted on its Web site. Staff will carry out administrative tasks there until August, the charity said.

``It is now preferable for children to be cared for within a foster family or in a small group home, rather than within large residential institutions,'' the Salvation Army said. ``The last child moved out of Strawberry Field last week.''

Lennon, born in 1940, wrote the song ``Strawberry Fields Forever'' after playing with orphans at the center when he was a child. The Beatles released the song on a double A-side with Penny Lane in February 1967. The song-title was later used to name an area of New York's Central Park which Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono frequented when they lived in the city. Lennon was shot dead outside his New York apartment in 1980.

Strawberry Field opened in 1936, and the Salvation Army notified authorities two years ago that it intended to close the site. The closure was announced in January, and the three children who were then resident have now been placed with foster families, the group said, adding that the future of the site hasn't been decided.

``The childcare provision at Strawberry Field is now coming to an end,'' Major Marion Drew, who heads the Salvation Army in the region, said in the statement. ``There are no plans at present about the site and its future use.''

The Beatles had 17 U.K. number one singles, second only to Elvis Presley, who had 21. While the Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields single didn't top the British charts, coming in at number two, it made it to number one in the U.S.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 31, 2005 09:34 EDT