And another one gone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWsJcg-g1pg
A musical tribute to...Yorba Linda Bowl. They will join the ever-growing list of Southern California bowling centers of note that have closed their doors. July 31st of this year will be the last day. It is sad news as a sport I once loved continues to die out on one level. Oh, the "Lucky Strike" centers will continue to pop up but bowling will never be what it once was.
I did this once before, but I feel the need to do it again. Make a list of all the bowling alleys in this area that were open during my lifetime but no longer exist. Some closed long ago, some in the not too distant past. I bowled at almost all of them.
Llo-Da-Mar was on Wilshire just to the East of 5th Street in Santa Monica. The name came from its original owners, comedian Harold Lloyd (who once bowled a 300 game) and star bowlers Ned Day and Hank Marino.
Santa Monica Lanes once resided at the SouthWest corner of 26th Street and Wilshire. Don't know much about its history but I did bowl there on a number of occasions when I was young.
Samoa Lanes was at 5th and Broadway in Santa Monica, but it has been gone a long time. The location was turned into an ice skating rink and is now part of the Fred Segal complex.
Where the second part of the Westside Pavilion mall now stands was once home to Picwood Bowl (there was a Picwood movie theater too). The name came from the nearby intersection of Pico and Westwood.
Just off the 405 Freeway, on Jefferson once stood Jefferson Bowl. It is also long gone. I remember bowling in a tournament there when I was first competing in junior bowling.
Also not far from the 405, although it was closer to the freeway proper than to any exit was Kingpin Lanes. I won't mention the name of the bowler, but one late afternoon, following a session of one of the junior travel leagues at that location, this bowler tossed his shoes, bag and then two bowling balls (one at a time) into the storm drainage ditch behind the bowling alley. If I recall correctly, he shot 382 for the three games that day.
Near the intersection of Rodeo Road and La Cienega Boulevard was Rodeo Bowl. The Greater L.A. 835 Junior Travel League stopped there on a few occasions.
It also stopped at Glenn Allison Lanes, which became a famous adult entertainment center with a big marquee that read "Nudes, Nudes, Nudes" on Century Boulevard just to the West of Aviation.
In El Segundo proper was the famed Imperial Bowl, on Imperial.
In Redondo Beach, to the South of what is now the South Bay Galleria was 58 lane South Bay Bowl. I bowled there, I worked there and I loved the place. Never bowled particularly well there, with the exception of a few nights when I found the shot during league play.
I don't remember the exact location, but there was a center near USC called Trojan Bowl. It was a 16 lane center and the 835 went there as well. I remember it well because I picked up the 7-10 split there. That was the good news. The bad news was that I'd left the 6-7-10 and after the shot the 7-10 were gone but the 6 pin was still standing.
In 2000, Holiday Bowl, at 3730 Crenshaw finally closed. It was mostly torn down in 2003, although the coffee shop still stands (I think it's a Starbucks now). A great center, that was the home of some exceptional bowlers. I still remember waiting for the Pacific Bowler to come out on Fridays so I could read the column written by Tosh Kinjo.
Glendale was the home to Grand Central Bowl (I think it was on Flower actually) and I always bowled well there for some reason.
I heard that Eagle Rock Bowl was gone some time ago, but never did look into what happened to that place. I never bowled well there.
Panorama Bowl on Van Nuys has been gone for more than 20 years now.
Hollywood Legion Lanes was on El Centro, between Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. I remember going to a tournament there. I drove by it the other day, it's a fitness center now.
I'm sure I've missed some in SoCal but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I want to mention two more though, from my years of living in Las Vegas. I bowled in league play and in tournaments at the bowling alley in the basement of the El Rancho Vegas Hotel/Casino, and in leagues and a number of tournaments at the old Showboat Bowling Center (I bowled on every pair in the house at one time or another, on both sides). My team from Nellis Air Force Base won the WorldWide Military Bowling Championship there in 1986. We won the team event, the team all-events (the big prize) and my partner and I won the doubles. We got to hold on to a big trophy for a year and the championships were each worth a small Sears gift certificate.
A musical tribute to...Yorba Linda Bowl. They will join the ever-growing list of Southern California bowling centers of note that have closed their doors. July 31st of this year will be the last day. It is sad news as a sport I once loved continues to die out on one level. Oh, the "Lucky Strike" centers will continue to pop up but bowling will never be what it once was.
I did this once before, but I feel the need to do it again. Make a list of all the bowling alleys in this area that were open during my lifetime but no longer exist. Some closed long ago, some in the not too distant past. I bowled at almost all of them.
Llo-Da-Mar was on Wilshire just to the East of 5th Street in Santa Monica. The name came from its original owners, comedian Harold Lloyd (who once bowled a 300 game) and star bowlers Ned Day and Hank Marino.
Santa Monica Lanes once resided at the SouthWest corner of 26th Street and Wilshire. Don't know much about its history but I did bowl there on a number of occasions when I was young.
Samoa Lanes was at 5th and Broadway in Santa Monica, but it has been gone a long time. The location was turned into an ice skating rink and is now part of the Fred Segal complex.
Where the second part of the Westside Pavilion mall now stands was once home to Picwood Bowl (there was a Picwood movie theater too). The name came from the nearby intersection of Pico and Westwood.
Just off the 405 Freeway, on Jefferson once stood Jefferson Bowl. It is also long gone. I remember bowling in a tournament there when I was first competing in junior bowling.
Also not far from the 405, although it was closer to the freeway proper than to any exit was Kingpin Lanes. I won't mention the name of the bowler, but one late afternoon, following a session of one of the junior travel leagues at that location, this bowler tossed his shoes, bag and then two bowling balls (one at a time) into the storm drainage ditch behind the bowling alley. If I recall correctly, he shot 382 for the three games that day.
Near the intersection of Rodeo Road and La Cienega Boulevard was Rodeo Bowl. The Greater L.A. 835 Junior Travel League stopped there on a few occasions.
It also stopped at Glenn Allison Lanes, which became a famous adult entertainment center with a big marquee that read "Nudes, Nudes, Nudes" on Century Boulevard just to the West of Aviation.
In El Segundo proper was the famed Imperial Bowl, on Imperial.
In Redondo Beach, to the South of what is now the South Bay Galleria was 58 lane South Bay Bowl. I bowled there, I worked there and I loved the place. Never bowled particularly well there, with the exception of a few nights when I found the shot during league play.
I don't remember the exact location, but there was a center near USC called Trojan Bowl. It was a 16 lane center and the 835 went there as well. I remember it well because I picked up the 7-10 split there. That was the good news. The bad news was that I'd left the 6-7-10 and after the shot the 7-10 were gone but the 6 pin was still standing.
In 2000, Holiday Bowl, at 3730 Crenshaw finally closed. It was mostly torn down in 2003, although the coffee shop still stands (I think it's a Starbucks now). A great center, that was the home of some exceptional bowlers. I still remember waiting for the Pacific Bowler to come out on Fridays so I could read the column written by Tosh Kinjo.
Glendale was the home to Grand Central Bowl (I think it was on Flower actually) and I always bowled well there for some reason.
I heard that Eagle Rock Bowl was gone some time ago, but never did look into what happened to that place. I never bowled well there.
Panorama Bowl on Van Nuys has been gone for more than 20 years now.
Hollywood Legion Lanes was on El Centro, between Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. I remember going to a tournament there. I drove by it the other day, it's a fitness center now.
I'm sure I've missed some in SoCal but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I want to mention two more though, from my years of living in Las Vegas. I bowled in league play and in tournaments at the bowling alley in the basement of the El Rancho Vegas Hotel/Casino, and in leagues and a number of tournaments at the old Showboat Bowling Center (I bowled on every pair in the house at one time or another, on both sides). My team from Nellis Air Force Base won the WorldWide Military Bowling Championship there in 1986. We won the team event, the team all-events (the big prize) and my partner and I won the doubles. We got to hold on to a big trophy for a year and the championships were each worth a small Sears gift certificate.
posted by me at 9:04 PM
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