CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and it was forced to close the doors, the staff at Weber Bingo had been operating 364 nights a year for a quarter of a century.
It’ll resume those operations Friday.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s stay-at-home order expires Thursday, allowing some businesses to reopen at 25 percent of their venues' capacities.
Weber Bingo will be among them.
“We’re going to open and see how it goes, and hopefully it goes well and the charities are profitable,” Weber Bingo operator Kathleen White said. "If they’re not we’ll have to make adjustments accordingly.”
The charities White referred to operate the bingo games at Weber Bingo. There are five of them — YWCA, National LIttle League, Art Center of Corpus Christi, Jewish Community Center, and Corpus Christi Chamber Music — and they’ve had to operate without this valuable revenue source while the parlor was closed.
Twenty-five percent of Weber Bingo’s occupancy is 170 people, but White said there will be plenty of social distancing, because the 13,000- to 15,000-square-foot building contains 123 tables.
She taking another novel coronavirus-prevention measure that’s not required by Abbott: She said all staff members will wear gloves and masks at all times.
White encourages bingo players to do the same.
“I look forward to having some bingo players that feel safe, who are not at risk, who are they themselves, healthy,” she said.
The doors open at 5 p.m. Friday at Weber Bingo. The first session begins at 7 p.m.
