Please gamble responsibly.
by Penny Walker
Although not an online bingo story, this story still has great relevance in the lives of bingo lovers in the UK in general. We grew up with many of the bingo clubs which are now being threatened with extinction, and it is really sad to see this happening. At one time these institutions added a good deal of glamour and were and integral part of the culture of bingo in the UK.
I don�t know if we have ever before seen so many of these buildings up for threat at one time, as developers have grand ideas for using the space to make money with their grand ideas. Classic Art Deco Cinemas and dance halls dating back to the 30�s, which were revived by bingo during the 60�s and 70�s are being razed to the ground and all that is left is rubble.
The 1934 Doncaster Odeon fell last month and in Lancaster the 1936 Regal cinema in King Street has been reduced to mere rubble. These developers are stripping the insides of the buildings and more than 20 are under threat, all of them from the 1930�s.
It is all very well to say, �don�t worry, if your bingo club falls, you can just play online bingo�, but this is really not what it is about. It is about the fact that The UK is a place of historic monuments and if these buildings which are over 70 and 80 years old are being discarded, what will be next?
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are now refusing listing applications and even the cinema in Leicester Square, the UK capital of cinema in the heart of London, and the historic Odeon in the West End are not immune. Chairman of the Cinema Theatre Association, David Trevor-Jones calls this an absolute tragedy and says that cinemas which have been acting as bingo halls have been undervalued.