INUVIK - The Inuvik Curling Club may be no more if it can't come up with $70,000 in the next two weeks, when the season is scheduled to start.

That was the message its president Nick Saturnino brought to town council's committee of the whole session on Monday. His presentation centred on two problems: low membership and skyrocketing utility costs associated with running the club - those costs have almost doubled over the past five years to $80,000 from $46,000.

Nick Saturnino, Inuvik Curling Club president, met with council on Monday to find a way to come up with $70,000 to pay for the group's utility bill and keep it from collapse. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Saturnino argued that $70,000 could be recouped if the town would once again allow the curling club to run a six-month bingo series that has been granted in past years and has become a lifeline for the group.

"If we get a bingo series every six months then I wouldn't be here tonight," he said.

Last year the group - consisting of close to 200 members, 70 of them non-paying youths - earned more than $81,000 from hosting the bingos, amounting to 42.5 per cent of its yearly revenues.

The town's new bylaw states priority for hosting bingos is given to organizations which use the money to benefit "youth and elders."

Sara Brown, Inuvik's SAO, said the committee that decides which groups are awarded licences received 260 applications vying for 150 available possible bingo dates. She said the curling club was excluded because it doesn't appeal to enough people in the target group. The next round of selections is scheduled for today and the club isn't expected to be chosen, according to Brown.

The club has leased the curling rink area and upstairs bar since the facilities were opened 12 years ago. The arrangement gives the club exclusive user rights to those locations throughout the year. But the group has fallen on tough times and with exception of two summer events, where organizers of The Great Northern Arts Festival and Petroleum Show book the curling rink to host the events, the facilities make little revenue during the off season.

Some councillors urged the town to help subsidize the club like it does with many other recreational groups in town. Mayor Derek Lindsay suggested imposing fees for youth who use the rink several days a week for free as well as seeking corporate sponsorship to help with costs.

Though councillor Terry Halifax supported the club's efforts to stay afloat, he questioned the idea of relying on bingo revenue to pay the bills.

"Personally I don't see bingo as a long-term solution to anything," he said.

Brown agreed to meet with Saturnino again on Tuesday evening to discuss the issue further before making a recommendation to council at its regular meeting on Wednesday.

She said the solution would probably result in the town sharing the cost of the facilities, which would mean the club would lose its exclusivity rights. She suggested the town could use the space to host several possible activities, including dance classes. She said the town might also look at building needed office space there.

"I think there is probably a solution there," she said. "We have to look at all those issues."

Club play normally begins in October. With the group set to host several major events, including the Arctic Winter Games regional trials scheduled for January, Saturnino said a decision has to be made immediately.

"There are number of things coming up in the future that we can't make decisions on. We have been at a standstill for the last month and a half," he said. "We don't have a liquor licence. We can't use the bar now. There's so much we can't do because of the situation we're in."