CREVE COEUR, Ill. (25 News) – Tazewell Bingo Center reopened Thursday night almost four months after temporarily shutting it’s doors.
A kitchen fire on May 3 forced the center to close for refurbishments. But now, the building is full in the evenings again. The start of games on Thursday had to be delayed because so many people were in line. The line snaked around the lobby for hours before the game started.
Yellow accents and a brand new carpet rolled out to welcome players. The owner, Patricia Baldovin, was grinning from ear to ear.
“My entire team is super excited to be here, to be open, to see the amount of people that have come to support us and be glad to be here again. We’re really, really excited to be open again,” she said.
The charities who get a share of the Bingo game’s proceeds are happy, too. For the first week, all those sponsor organizations will have volunteers at the bingo center.
The founder and CEO of United Stroke Alliance described it as a family reunion.
“We’ve been doing it for over 15 years, so week after week after week and month after month, you get to know these people. You know their story, they know your story. And so I’ve had just so many hugs and how are yous,” Nunley said.
This was her organization’s largest source of income, so there was some funding lost during the closure. Nunley stressed that the folks at the bingo center have done right by United Stroke Alliance and all the sponsor organizations during this time.
And, she’s hopeful that they’ll get some of that funding back with all the activity from the reopening.
The bingo center’s kitchen isn’t quite ready yet, but Baldovin hopes it will be open within about a month.
(Reporting by Taylor Fleming, 25 News)
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