Future of popular venue unclear?

There are fears that a landmark building in the centre of Spalding may not re-open more than a year after a fire.

Majestic Bingo had its headquarters at the Regent Bingo Club in Spalding which was devastated by the fire in May last year.

The Westlode Street club was just a few days away from re-opening after a period of enforced closure because of the pandemic.

There was extensive damage inside the club after an early morning blaze which was caused by an electrical fault.

Speaking at the time, Mark Jepp, managing director of owners Majestic Bingo, said the site, which was re-fitted in 2018, would re-open.

At the time of the fire there were 13 staff and management working at the bingo hall.

But there are no signs of the venue re-opening despite the ‘back soon’ posters which have been on the front of the building for months.

And the Voice has been told that the site may not be re-opened in the near future because of the amount of asbestos found in the building.

According to public documents filed with an end of year report by the owners, the rebuild had been delayed because of the asbestos.

“(There was) extensive fire and smoke damage to both the club and the offices. The property is expected to be closed for repairs for at least 18 months,” says the report to Companies House. The same report also revealed that 47 staff in total were made redundant from the parent company because of the pandemic.

The club was closed from March 20, 2020 to July 7 for a national lockdown.

“It was clear when our doors reopened in July that our older customers lacked the confidence of their younger counterparts and made less visits than pre-pandemic,” says the report.

The company, which was contacted for comment, still has ‘temporarily closed’ on the Regent website.