[thistleclub]

Delta Bingo hall closing Sunday
(Hamilton Spectator, Carmela Fragomeni, Jan 16 2013)

Delta Bingo in downtown Hamilton is closing its doors for good Sunday night after the last game is played.

Messages on Delta Bingo's website and a sign at the site have announced the closing.

Councillor Jason Farr, who represents the ward where Delta Bingo has operated for years, says he's been notified about the closure and that the operators are closing it to concentrate on converting its St. Catharines and Fort Erie bingo halls over to electronic Bing -- e-Bingo.

Delta Bingo has been operating at the old Kresge department store at 45 King Street East on property leased from developer Ralph Frisina.

About 30 charities that fundraised through the bingos at Delta are affected.

"It means charities will have to be creative and find another way to raise that $10,000," said Farr.

The closure means Princess Bingo remains the only bingo hall in Hamilton and the city and charities are exploring any possibility some of the charities could move to Princess.

Bee Eye 'N' Gee O Inc. owners Chuck Lemenchick and Mark Cosens sent a message to its customers and contractors Jan. 7 notifying them of the closing.

In it, they said they intend to continue operating its St. Catharines and Fort Erie facilities and convert both to E-Bingo in keeping with the approvals they were already granted them by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

"The closure of Delta Bingo Hamilton will allow us to focus our efforts on upgrading and strengthening our remaining locations," the message read.

Farr said he has mixed emotions over the loss.

He said the smaller grass roots local charities will be left suddenly scrambling to offset the "limited revenue Delta Bingo brought them annually".

At the same time the customers who came from all over Hamilton to Delta Bingo will have lost a venue of good fun and entertainment, he said.

However, "I could completely understand and appreciate the argument that 'wouldn't it be nice to have a department store there again'."