The game of bingo has been part of British culture for decades now. Once upon a time, a city like Birmingham had countless halls where fans of the game would gather weekly for an evening of simple enjoyment and, if they were lucky, a win or two as well.
The announcement earlier this year, that a popular bingo hall in Rubery was set to be converted into a gym, caused consternation among many members. However, the closure or repurposing of bingo halls up and down the country is a trend that has been going on for some time now.
Perhaps the secret to ensuring the continuing success of traditional halls would be to pick up some tips from sites that offer online bingo games for real money. A whole new generation of players has been attracted by the allure of the wide selection of games available. The fact that they can play whenever and wherever they want has always been another strong draw.
There’s no sole reason for the decline in land-based casinos: many factors have played a part including changing tastes in entertainment. Bingo halls up and down the country, not just in Birmingham, are now being considered for other less entertaining uses. For example, over in Wolverhampton, one has been turned into a storage depot due to the sheer size of the building.
This architectural repurposing is hardly a new phenomenon: spaces are malleable and have the potential to cater to a diverse range of audiences and uses. For example, when cinemas were affected by the 1950s boom, wherein television became increasingly available as a leisure pursuit that distracted the public from nights out, many venues were left half empty and in need of a new lease of life. Thus, those venues became something new, in most cases locations such as theatres, gyms, bookstores, and, you guessed it, bingo halls.
The magnificent and imposing buildings, which had often been built in the Art Deco style of the 1930s, made the perfect venue. They were large, imposing, and also had a stage from which the caller could run the game.
In fact, the architectural importance of many of the old picture palaces is still recognised by Historic England today, including possibly one of Birmingham’s finest examples; a famous club in Kingstanding. Praised for its classic design by architect Harry Weedon, this building is still in operation, but some fear that one day soon this too could be closed as a bingo hall and converted to another use.
But, as they say, there is no standing in the way of progress and everything must fit in with changing trends and priorities. Bingo fans in Birmingham won’t have to say goodbye to the game that they love so much as it will always be there to enjoy online. And the fact that many of the old Art Deco-style bingo halls are listed buildings means that they’ll never be demolished, but allowed to remain as outstanding examples of where leisure time was enjoyed in Birmingham, and elsewhere, in the past.
