bingo plan
West Side Bingo LLC Terminates Leases of the Charities
For a number of years now, charitable organizations have operated their own bingo games and kept whatever revenues that they earned during the games after they have paid their expenses and prizes. Charity Group Knights of Columbus will also be moving to the new space in Rogers Street after they have been kicked out of the New Amoskeag Bingo Center.
UpReach charity depends upon the $80,000 dollars a year from their bingo operations to sustain the projects of their charity, which mainly provides horse riding activities to physically challenged children.
Prayer Hall, which supervises the Welcome Home House, which is a 60 room rooming house located in Manchester, the Hooksett Food Pantry and two apartment houses in Allenstown for transitional housing purposes- depends upon their bingo earnings which totals to about $100,000 dollars annually.
The newly renovated building space, which is about 8,700 square meters is fully airconditioned, with fire sprinklers in case of an emergency and is handicapped friendly. According to Richard Danais, a real estate developer and president of the UpReach board, they are planning to add more lighting to the parking area of the building.
They are plans for the charities to form an umbrella organization, Charities Hall, which owns the space and will lease the space to the displaced charities. Charities Hall will charge a state regulated fee of $4 dollars per bingo player.
Granted accordingly, the variance was needed because bingo halls are generally not allowed to operate in a redevelopment zone. Chairman Steven J. Freedman of the Zoning board of Adjustments said that it would be an interesting use of space which is very complimentary to the area. He is currently trying to find an off-peak, non-traditional user to the area before the incident involving the charities' displacement from New Amoskeag Bingo Center happened.
The whole arrangement would work because the parking lot in the building would be empty when the bingo players arrive after office hours. The games will start exactly at 6:45 p.m. from Monday through Saturday and at 1:45 p.m. in the afternoon on Sundays. The bingo center must still get a conditional use permit from the Manchester Planning Board.
Several people have addressed the zoning board during last night's meeting, which mainly contains the benefits and services that the charities provided for the community.
The president of the Palace Theater Trust, Peter Ramsey said that he is currently working on at running a bingo night in Rogers Street. The public benefit of the charities is very clear, it is going to help a lot of the nonprofit groups who are in similar predicament.