Bowling fused with entertainment sparks revival
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) — Teenagers Chris Koay and Kyle Cayer toss bowling balls down the lane, their clothing illuminated by fluorescent black lights while rotating multicolors swirl around an otherwise dark alley.
Not far away Emily Sloane is celebrating her 13th birthday, racing electric go-carts with four friends on an indoor track.
Valley Worlds of Fun has undergone a five-year metamorphosis, doubling in size from a 32-lane bowling alley to a 65,000-square-foot family center with 24 lanes, laser tag, a 3D haunted house, arcade and outdoor games.
Owner Robert Martin decided his business had to reinvent itself to attract customers who couldn’t commit to a league anymore or had nixed the notion of strikes and spares as a family option. Valley hosts only six leagues now, down from 60 in the early 1980s.
“People … don’t want to make that commitment that they did 20 years ago when they’d say, ‘I’ll be at your place for the next 35 weeks every Tuesday night at 6:30,'” Martin said. “There’s just too many other conflicts.”
Giving customers more choices, while it may not be financially viable to every bowling alley, has caught on elsewhere.
At Spare Time Recreation in Ironton, Ohio, four owners took over a 34-lane alley in 1994, removed 22 lanes and now offer bowling, roller skating and laser tag.
Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis has eight lanes, a theater with concerts, musicals and comedy shows, and a restaurant with a menu that features offerings from Belgian beer to blackened shrimp.
Seattle’s retro-style, three-level Garage Bowl opened last July, and customers 21-and-over find they can bowl on 14 lanes and relax with a cigar and a bottle of Merlot while listening to a deejay playing tunes.
At Valley, Martin seems to have found the secret ingredient, offering a smoke- and alcohol-free environment.
By the end of the night, Emily’s mother, Peg Cooning, had shelled out $250 for her group of seven.
“Would I just choose to go bowling? My 13-year-old wouldn’t find that fun,” she said. “But the fact that there was laser tag and all the extra things to do, that’s what is appealing, especially if you live in a rural area like we do. That’s unique for an entertainment night.”
Cooning, her husband and the girls drove almost an hour from their homes in Buckhannon. “Otherwise, it was five 13-year-olds in my house for the evening, watching videos,” she said. “This was a lot more exciting and fun for them.”
Cayer’s stepfather, Ed Liebhardt, had no qualms about dropping him off for several hours on a recent Friday night. Then again, as a longtime league bowler, Liebhardt didn’t mind tagging along.
“Facilities like this are really a place for families to come together,” he said. “As people get more free time, they’re looking for things to do that bring them together instead of everybody going their separate ways.”
During warmer weather, Valley customers can ride bumper boats, play miniature golf, scale a rock wall and weave through a 5,000-square-foot timed maze. But for Koay and Cayer, bowling’s the primary attraction.
“We came here one day and did 16 hours of straight bowling,” Koay said. “It’s a great atmosphere to be in. All my friends come here.”
The teenage crowd has helped bowling centers offset the loss of league business. Despite little marketing, Valley often attracts schools and out-of-state church groups.
Valley and other centers have also turned to “cosmic” or “laser” bowling. On weekends, the lights are turned down and the music is pumped up. Fluorescent black lights, colors that spin from the ceiling and pulsate along the gutters — even fog machines — add to the party atmosphere.
“Everything glows,” Martin said.
Valley incorporated automated gutter bumpers for the youngest bowlers to encourage higher scorers and tone down disappointment.
For high schoolers, 11 states currently offer bowling as a letter sport, although not in West Virginia. But for the first time this year, a state high school tournament is being held in Parkersburg.
“Those kids, as they mature, they’ll have a tendency to get into organized play more,” said Michael J. Carroll, of Huntington, the state’s representative in the American Bowling Congress. “Once it gets going, everybody wants to participate.”
West Virginia currently has 2,000 sanctioned youth bowlers. But overall memberships in the Greendale, Wis.-based ABC, the nation’s largest bowling organization, are down more than 50 percent from about 8 million during the mid-1980s.
The number of alleys nationwide has dropped from about 10,000 at its peak in the 1960s to about 6,000. In West Virginia, alleys have dwindled from 70 in the early 1980s to 51.
In the Charleston area, Dunbar Bowling Center, offering three or four leagues every day, prefers to offer traditional services without the so-called carnival atmosphere.
“We are an exception and only because I was brought up in the old school when we just work hard, promote and develop bowlers through instruction and educate them about the game,” owner Jim Sturm said.
But Carroll suggests someone who hopes to open an alley go the route that Valley took, perhaps targeting a growing population center.
Liebhardt would be interested if Valley ever plans to offer stock.
“I wish they’d go public. I’d like to get in on the IPO,” he said.
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On the Net:
U.S. bowling: www.bowl.com
American Bowling Congress: http://www.bowl.com/bowl/abc/index.html