Nonprofit bingo hall calls last winner

Big Brothers Big Sisters Bingo, a Spokane institution for more than a quarter of a century, has closed because of declining revenues aggravated by competition with card rooms and the state’s smoking ban, the organization announced Wednesday.

Despite the fact that bingo at one time funded the majority of the child-mentoring organization’s operations, President Jack Lucas said the closure, effective immediately, “will not have an effect” on continuing the Big Brother Big Sister mission.

“Over the years, we realized that we had to become more creative in our fund-raising efforts,” Lucas said.

The facility employed about 30 part-time workers and seven full-time managers, said Brusan Wells, development director.

“We will give them the highest recommendations,” Wells said.

As of November, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Northwest was mentoring more than 770 children in Spokane and Kootenai counties by matching them with carefully screened adult volunteers.

At one time, the bingo hall at 930 N. Monroe funded most of Big Brothers’ operating budget, Wells said, but it declined to just 20 percent in recent years. Forty percent is funded by the charity’s annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake and Spokane Golf Classic events. Grants fund 20 percent to 30 percent, while donations fund the remainder.

“We’re going to have to cut expenses,” Wells said. She added that Big Brothers “will do what it takes to continue” and looks to Spokane for support.

She said renting parking spaces to County Courthouse workers and others during the day has helped with expenses. The building may be leased or sold.

The state’s ban on smoking in public facilities, which was approved by voters in November and became law in December, played a part in the board of directors’ decision to close the bingo hall, which saw declines in customers and revenue in recent years, Wells said.

The building had been divided into smoking and nonsmoking. But the total ban forced patrons, many elderly, into the parking lot to smoke.

“Card rooms also have given us quite a bit of competition,” she said. “We were looking at the writing on the wall.”

Only two bingo halls, Spokane Youth Sports Association and the Eagles, remain open in Spokane, according to a sports association spokeswoman.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Northwest is part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the largest youth mentoring organization in the country, serving 220,000 children. Studies have shown that children matched with adult volunteers in the program are 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol and 52 percent less likely to skip school than comparable children without a Big Brother Big Sister mentor.

“Our mentoring program is one that is emulated throughout the world and considered the model for all mentoring programs,” Lucas said.

That mission will continue in Spokane, he said.