Bingo hall closing Dec. 31

After only re-opening at its new location on McIrvine Road in July, the Fort Frances Bingo Hall will be closing its doors at the end of the year.
Linda Larocque, vice-president of the Fort Frances Bingo Association, said a letter was sent out to Bingo hall employees and the local Bingo association stating:
“As of Dec. 31, 2006, 800438 Ontario Limited, operating as the Fort Frances Bingo Hall, will be closing its operations. Therefore, there will be a matinee at Dec. 31, 2006, at which all the provincial pots must go.
“We’d like to thank all our customers over the years for their loyalty and support,” the letter added.
“We were really shocked. We weren’t expecting it,” said Larocque, who clarified the letter was sent out from the Bingo hall owners and was not a decision of the local Bingo association.
The two owners are Phillip Furtney and Gord Pageant, who live in New Liskeard, Ont.
Larocque said the reason given for the closure is “economic difficulties,” as the number of Bingo players has dwindled here since the province-wide smoking ban came into effect May 31.
“The Bingo Hall re-opened on July 21. The first little while it was fine,” she remarked, adding patrons could smoke outside the facility.
“We did try to accommodate the players by giving them more intermissions,” she added. “But the decline is due to them not being able to smoke.”
Larocque noted 20 local charities will be affected by the closure as these groups use Bingos as their primary means of fundraising.
These range from the Fort Frances Aquanauts and Muskie Touchdown Club to the Fort Frances Volunteer Bureau and FFHS band.
As such, Larocque said the Bingo association immediately jumped into action in response to the grim news.
“We are looking into different avenues for doing our own Bingos. We’re pursuing different avenues for the new year,” she noted.
“Now, whether it will be small little Bingos, we’re not sure. But we do know the association is very much alive and will be trying our very best to get something going in the new year,” she stressed.
Larocque said a meeting will be held in early January to discuss the future of Bingo here with the various charities involved.
“We’re really, really hoping that we’ll still have the support of all our customers in the new year,” she remarked. “There will definitely be something in January, a Bingo of some form. We’re not exactly sure where yet.
“We have to keep things going. There’s a lot of groups that need the Bingos to survive,” stressed Larocque. “It will be really, really sad if we can’t get something going in the new year to keep generating that revenue for them.
“It may not be the same amount of money, but it will be some.”
Larocque said the Bingo association has been in contact with the Town of Fort Frances, and is hopeful the town will help them with licensing in the new year so they can get restarted with Bingos promptly.
The Bingo hall employs about 12 staff.