Online Bingo | My Bingo Blog

In a world where people shoot wild animals, ride bulls and half-kill themselves in rings, playing a game of bingo must be the world’s safest games. according to custom, players are seated at tables and just place markers on a card according to the numbers being called out by a caller until someone gets five in a row and shouts “Bingo” and wins a prize. There’s no bones breaking, no one gets drunk and nothing explodes.

It’s quite puzzling, given all this that some Kitchener residents have greeted the possible opening of a bingo hall in their neighborhood with horror that they will be invaded by a horde of barbarians or aliens. The city reported on the matter, noted that, along with being worried about houses being decreased, some neighbors were actually concerned for their “safety and the children in the community that will now come into contact with an influx of new people around the region.”

Let’s all take a deep breath and take this all in. we’re not talking about an influx of terrorists or creatures from the dark side. It’s just bingo players, spending their time at a local bingo hall, playing BINGO! All these bingo players want is to be able to play bingo at a nearby area, like Krug Street and barring some unforeseen problem – like too little parking – the bingo palace should be approved.

The Rosemount people trying to block this plan – should tread carefully, they might get what they are asking for and find it’s not to their liking. No bingo hall in the plaza and a space that has housed grocery stores but stood empty for the past 2 ½ years could remain standing empty for years to come.

Is a vacant building better for the neighborhood than a bingo operator that last year raised more than $500,000 for 27 charities, including six minor sports groups that service 6,000 registered children? Will the other businesses in the plaza be more likely to succeed if a third of the plaza’s retail space remains empty? Would it be much better for the neighbors if a large tavern was erected to open in the plaza? We would reply, no, no, no and no.

It’s true that city staff turned their thumbs down on the bingo hall, arguing that the plaza was built decades ago to serve the immediate neighborhood and that the bingo hall could be patronized by players from around Waterloo Region. But you can also bet that many of this plaza’s business – its pets and jewelry stores, its bank and its health club – serve more than customers walking in from the neighborhood. Why should standards be different for a bingo hall?

The residents’ concerns have however, persuaded the local city councilor, John Smola, to rescind his support for the project. With Smola seeking re-election in the upcoming municipal vote, that about-face is not surprising. But it would be better if the objecting residents realize their fears are overblown. And unless a study shows that a bingo hall can cause traffic or parking problems, city council should shout bingo, and approve the new bingo hall.