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Bingo stuck between a rock and a hard place

“It’s not for the Bonnyville Bingo Association we’re fighting for, it’s for the service clubs, because they do a lot in this community and they give back to this community.
25.news.agriplex
Bonnyville Bingo is in search of a new home after the Centennial Centre informed them they wouldn’t be renewing their lease in February.

“It’s not for the Bonnyville Bingo Association we’re fighting for, it’s for the service clubs, because they do a lot in this community and they give back to this community.”

That was how Candice Brideau, president of the Bonnyville Bingo Association, described their reasoning for requesting assistance from the Town of Bonnyville council during their regular meeting on Tuesday, March 26.

In June 2018, the association learned the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre wouldn’t be renewing their lease for the Agriplex.

Now, they’re left scrambling to find funds to pay for renovations of a new building after previous members “dropped the ball,” said bookkeeper Susan Turner.

“The people who started looking for a new building when we got notice that the C2 lease wasn’t going to be renewed were the wrong people. Nothing got done, absolutely nothing. Two weeks ago, it got dropped and we picked it up, secured a building, talked to the bank, did letters, did this, and that. We did more in six days than what was done for six months.”

The cost of renovating the property they’re in lease negotiations with is roughly $140,000, and the organization is looking for help from anyone.

“We didn’t know where we were going to stand with the bank, so we had just thought ‘maybe we can ask for some grant funding.’ We’re trying to ask anybody that we can that can help these clubs. They’re not helping the Bonnyville Bingo Association, they’re helping the 13 clubs who rely on these funds and have relied on these funds for the last 30-years in this community,” Turner expressed.

The club requested financial support from the town, or that the municipality be a guarantor on a loan.

One of their options includes a loan being repaid over five years, with monthly payments of $2,700. That would mean the association would have to raise the fees for the clubs by $135.

“Ideally, it would be nice to have a little bit of cash to throw down on that principle right off the bat and have lesser payments for the clubs. We still have a few other options that we’re looking at, but we’re running out of time and the other places we’re talking to won’t know until May or April. We need to move now if we can move,” Turner said, adding the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) has to approve the new location.

Mayor Gene Sobolewski noted council encouraged the club in September 2018 when they were requesting help finding a new location to work quickly to avoid a situation like the one they’re currently in.

“We cautioned the group at that time to make haste in terms of what needs to be done, and it’s a bit of a bombshell that was dropped in front of council, or at least I’m hearing it for the first time, that others, or previous individuals, have dropped the ball.”

Due to the renovations at the Agriplex, there isn’t much time left for the bingo association.

If the town was to go ahead with becoming a guarantor, CAO Mark Power noted it could take up to two months to put a bylaw in place.

“We have to advertise it, one month has to go by, nobody has to complain. Then, it can go to second and third reading,” he said.

Sobolewski suggested the association discuss their options with AGLC on what could be done on a temporary basis to move them into a new building.

“If bingo’s going to survive, we have to figure out what’s going to happen in the interim... so that they can still operate so those clubs are still able to do things. Unfortunately, you’re in a massive pickle and we’ve got to figure out how to make things work in the interim.”

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