CARD CLUB DEALT A BAD HAND
Renovations at its home base of 25 years on East Broadway have forced the Vancouver Bridge Club to look for another venue, leaving mostly senior members in the lurch.
The Vancouver Bridge Club is located in one of those faceless strip malls you can drive past a million times without noticing. But it’s in a central location at 2776 East Broadway, a couple of blocks east of Nanaimo. And bridge players come in from all over the Lower Mainland to play there.
“Sometimes people come two or three times a week,” said the club’s Ken Lochang.
“It’s $10, and you get 31/2 hours entertainment. It’s cheaper than going to a movie, and you don’t have to pay for parking or buy popcorn.”
The real allure, though, is the game itself, and the social interaction.
“It’s the most social, friendly place to come,” said June Keith of New Westminster. “We’re just our own little community. Everybody gets along, and everybody knows each other. It’s just a very social place.”
This is important, because most of the bridge players are seniors, and they treasure the interaction.
“You get a lot of reinforcement when you come,” said Keith, who is 68. “You not only get social reinforcement, you get … brain stimulation. And you also get that feeling of belonging, because everybody can go out together and have a common topic to share.”
“It keeps our mind really, really busy,” said Jean Bentley, 87, of Richmond. “And it keeps us from going Alzheimer’s and stupid, you know? It’s social — these are my friends.”
Unfortunately, the club may not be around much longer. Its landlord is the City of Vancouver, which has decided to do “major renovations” to 2776 East Broadway and turn it into a “social-services hub.”
The club has been at the Broadway site for more than 25 years, but they’re getting the boot Oct. 31. Lochang isn’t sure where the club will go.
CENTRAL LOCATION
“They’ve been negotiating for over two years; I was under the impression that they were going to work around me,” said Lochang, who has been on a month-tomonth lease since 2015.
“I wouldn’t mind a smaller space. We’ve got 4,700 square feet right now, and we only need about 2,500 to 3,000. The lease is fairly cheap — it’s about $6,500 a month.”
The city has offered to try to help Lochang find a new location, but given the cost of commercial space in Vancouver, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to find anything affordable, in a neighbourhood where seniors would feel safe. Being centrally located is key.
“This is the central place for the whole of Greater Vancouver,” said Gary Harper, 65, of Burnaby. “You’ve got people coming in from the Valley, from the North Shore, from Richmond. There’s community-centre bridge games and stuff, but in the mornings you always know there’s going to be a game (here), it’s the place to play for bridge.”
Bentley does think there are alternatives, though.
“What I would like is (for) the community centres to open up their space for us, without costing an arm and a leg,” she said. “If that could be in your news story I would love it. Because that’s where we play in Palm Springs, we play in the community centres. Huge rooms and lovely atmosphere.”
Watching people play bridge does make for a lovely atmosphere. Monday morning all 21 tables at the centre were filled with groups of four, all clearly enjoying themselves.
“There’s a lot of laughter,” said Norma Doucette, 70, who lives in Vancouver. “Even though this is dead-serious when you’re playing a hand. You have to get along with your partner, and you have to get along with your opponent. There’s some cranky people here, but most of them are fun. And even the cranky people come round after a while.”