Business owners and landlords alike have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic

Jeannette Cole is both. She owns the South Hill Bowling Centre and rents out the buildings housing Leisure Time Bingo and Aurora Restaurant.

She said that closing the doors to the bowling alley before summer hits is bad timing.

“So having to close down my centre three and a half months earlier is going to create a really big problem for me,” Cole said. “I can’t do takeout. I can’t recover that lost revenues at all. It’s just gone.”

She said that bills are not going to be cheap for the Bingo and restaurant since they are also closed and aren’t bringing in any money.

Cole estimated that the power and energy alone on those building will cost her thousands of dollars each month.

“In six months, I’m going to have a $30,000 debt that I know,” she said. “The Bingo is closed, the restaurant is closed, I’m closed, we haven’t got any revenue coming in. So how do we stay on top of that?”

Cole said she’s had to layoff staff during this time, but did praise the federal government for introducing the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit Plan to take care of those who are now out of work.