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VFW post faces uncertain future
JOLIET -- The fate of Cantigny Post 367 is up in the air.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 826 Horseshoe Drive, which was founded in 1920, is struggling financially, mostly because of surging utility costs. In January, the post stopped offering fish fries. Bingo will end later this month. And soon the bar will close on Thursdays and Fridays.
(John Patsch/Staff Photographer)
(John Patsch/Staff Photographer)
Keeping the building open for money-losing operations doesn't make sense, said Ron Fleig, the post's incoming commander.
"The utility bills have gone through the roof," he said.
The 60-year-old building is poorly insulated and repairs are costly.
"We had to fix the elevator ourselves, the elevator company wouldn't touch it," Fleig said.
All rental commitments booked through the summer will be honored, however, he said.
Fleig, of Crest Hill, and other newly elected officers will be installed at a meeting at 7:30 tonight. Some members said the fate of the post will be voted on at the meeting, but Fleig said he expects the monthly meeting to be mostly ceremonial.
Either way, post members have some big decisions ahead of them.
Fleig said downsizing the operation is a temporary measure to dig the post out of a financial hole that now totals "well into five figures."
Fleig said in addition to cutting costs, members should consider selling the current post site and building a new, more energy-efficient building somewhere else. Or the post could merge with one of the other VFW posts in the area, he added.
Because the post property, which has five residential lots and one commercial lot, has been informally appraised at about $1 million, Fleig said any other post would be happy to merge with Cantigny.
"There's almost no chance we'll fold completely," he said. "It might merge, but it won't fold. ... We've got options and we're going to try them."
Fleig said he personally favors building a new post somewhere else. The current post is hard to find and isn't visible from any major road.
Not all members are wild about the idea of closing the building.
"The majority, I think, want to keep it going," said Ed Fitzpatrick, a former executive board member who has been a post member for 40 years.
Fitzpatrick, of Joliet, said some of the men want to resurrect the fish fries.
"I think we can make a go of it," he said.
Bad weather in the winter hurt attendance at fish fries and bingo, he said. So Fitzpatrick and others are thinking those events would pull in more money this summer.
Longtime Cantigny post members would really miss the post and the camaraderie it provides if it were gone, Fitzpatrick said.
"It's a meeting place," he said.
One big problem this post and others around the country are facing is declining membership due to old age and deaths.
"A lot of the old timers are dying off," Fitzpatrick said. "And the young ones aren't coming. They go to their sports bars."
That makes it tough to get volunteers to work events and it hurts attendance, Fitzpatrick said.
Cantigny's membership is about half of what it was at its peak of 1,600 or so. That's why Fleig is skeptical that resurrecting fish fries and bingo nights and opening the bar on Thursdays and Fridays will make the post profitable.
"Getting more than 20 members to show up at any one time is hard," he said.
Cantigny's revenue comes mostly from member dues, rentals and donations, which are always welcome, Fleig added.
Overall, Fleig is optimistic that a viable solution will be found in the coming months.
"We're hoping we can retrench and bring her back."
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