# Civic Matters > Suburban & Other OK Communities > Moore >  Whither Moore Bowl??

## SoonerDave

Just wondering if anyone has heard whether the Moore Bowl will be rebuilt. It was toasted after the tornado, and has been scraped down to the pad...had talked to some friends that used to work there who said they weren't sure if it would be rebuilt, and hadn't heard any other discussion or news items on it. Would hate to see it never come back.

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## Roger S

There has not been a decision made yet. 

AMF was in talks to sell that bowl and several others in this region to another company before the tornado hit. Last I heard those negotiations were ongoing.

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## SoonerDave

Well, if they were planning to sell it, surely they'd take the money (surely there was insurance) and just subtract that from the discussion on the other sites. That, to me, doesn't bode well for the probability of a rebuild.

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## Martin

if they don't reopen, i guess that means there won't be any place to bowl between sooner bowl in norman and penn 44 lanes in okc. -M

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## MWCGuy

Bowling Alley's are not making the money they used to make. I know AMF has been closing the under performing locations. Sunny Lanes closed in Del City not to long ago.

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## Martin

I think you're right... while it's totally anecdotal, bowling alleys seemed to be packed on the weekends in the late 90's when i'd go maybe once a month with friends.  i didn't bowl for a few years, and then went one weekend around '04 and couldn't help but notice that the place was practically empty. -M

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## SoonerDave

The Holiday Lanes over by Shields on SE 59th is still open, but yeah, the number of bowling options is dwindling rapidly. Sad.

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## Roger S

Maybe a sequel to The Big Lebowski would bring a resurgence to the popularity of bowliing.

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## SoonerDave

The decline of bowling isn't really sudden, I guess, because I remember being part of a league about 15-20 years ago and the place was packed. We bowled in the original old Bowling Green in MWC, which is long since defunct. I used to bowl over at the SW 104th Bowling Green, and we used to have a lot of Sunday School fellowships over there, and it shut down long ago, as well. Kind of a shame, too, because its a good family sport, you don't have to be great at it to have a good time, and you can play regardless of the weather. Most of the places started restricting smoking, and that helped curb the stinky air in most of the places, but I guess since you can't tweet, text, or facebook a strike the current generation won't have anything to do with it....

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## Jim Kyle

> The Holiday Lanes over by Shields on SE 59th is still open, but yeah, the number of bowling options is dwindling rapidly. Sad.


59th??? When I bowled in a travelling league back in the 70s, it was on 44th between Robinson and Shields...

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## SoonerDave

> 59th??? When I bowled in a travelling league back in the 70s, it was on 44th between Robinson and Shields...


Dangit, Jim, I'm an Internet Poster, not a cartographer  :Smile: 

By all means, you are 100% correct. My apologies  :Smile:

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## Martin

> since you can't tweet, text, or facebook a strike the current generation won't have anything to do with it


that's actually not a bad idea...  this generation might go for a scoreboard application that let's you link your game (maybe even pics/video of you getting a strike, etc.) to your twitter or facebook account... -M

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## SoonerDave

> that's actually not a bad idea...  this generation might go for a scoreboard application that let's you link your game (maybe even pics/video of you getting a strike, etc.) to your twitter or facebook account... -M


Hey, you may be on to something there. I *knew* I needed to download the Android developer stuff again!  :Smile:

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## kevinpate

They bowl, if at all, on their Wii at home or at a friend's.

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## Dubya61

The Citizen Pottawatomie Tribe in Shawnee recently built a bowling alley on the Firelake Casino complex area.  It's a very modern bowling alley and draws a big crowd along with the high-tech game room and booked birthday parties.  Maybe it's a big fish in a small pond, but it's doing OK.

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## s00nr1

As a frequent customer of AMF Moore (and especially the $10 all-you-can-bowl weekday special) I can say this alley probably won't be rebuilt as business has really declined the past 2 years or so. Getting cut a check from the insurance company would seem the perfect exit strategy to me.

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## Mel

Do they have any alleys that do blacklight bowling? That used to be a blast.

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## Easy180

> The Citizen Pottawatomie Tribe in Shawnee recently built a bowling alley on the Firelake Casino complex area.  It's a very modern bowling alley and draws a big crowd along with the high-tech game room and booked birthday parties.  Maybe it's a big fish in a small pond, but it's doing OK.


Speaking of modern/hip does anyone know how Red Pin is faring these days?

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## Roger S

Heard some new news this evening.

The deal to sell the Moore bowl appears to be a done deal and there will be a meeting next weekend with the new owners and current management.

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## Zuplar

> Speaking of modern/hip does anyone know how Red Pin is faring these days?


I went 2 months ago at an odd time even, and it was busy. They were booked for the day.

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## LovableGoober

A lot of talk among people who work(ed) in the area that Bill Warren is looking to buy all of the land over there including where the hospital and bowling alley were. The rumor is that the talk of rebuilding the hospital, at least in that location, is just posturing so they can drive up the price of the land. Time will tell..........

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## Zuplar

> A lot of talk among people who work(ed) in the area that Bill Warren is looking to buy all of the land over there including where the hospital and bowling alley were. The rumor is that the talk of rebuilding the hospital, at least in that location, is just posturing so they can drive up the price of the land. Time will tell..........


Any clue what Warren would do with it?

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## LovableGoober

> Any clue what Warren would do with it?


Nope, none at all. I would assume sell it off to make a profit of some kind but that is pure speculation

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## MikeLucky

> A lot of talk among people who work(ed) in the area that Bill Warren is looking to buy all of the land over there including where the hospital and bowling alley were. The rumor is that the talk of rebuilding the hospital, at least in that location, is just posturing so they can drive up the price of the land. Time will tell..........





> Any clue what Warren would do with it?






> Nope, none at all. I would assume sell it off to make a profit of some kind but that is pure speculation



I have absolutely ZERO inside information on this topic... however, I do have a predicition on what COULD be going in to replace the bowling alley...

At the Warren East in Wichita they have this facility in the parking lot.

The Alley Indoor Entertainment - Bowling, Indoor Go Karts, & Fun!

It's a facility called the Alley which has 32 bowling lanes, a billiards room, an arcade, an indoor go-cart track and a sports grill called The Back Alley.  It's not owned by Bill Warren, but I could see him facilitating a similar facility going in the parking lot here in Moore.  The Alley is owned and operated by JOMA Co., who also runs several other bowling alleys in the Wichita area.  Possibly he could be getting them involved in putting a facility in Moore to replace the AMF?

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## Roger S

> It's a facility called the Alley which has 32 bowling lanes, a billiards room, an arcade, an indoor go-cart track and a sports grill called The Back Alley.  It's not owned by Bill Warren, but I could see him facilitating a similar facility going in the parking lot here in Moore.  The Alley is owned and operated by JOMA Co., who also runs several other bowling alleys in the Wichita area.  Possibly he could be getting them involved in putting a facility in Moore to replace the AMF?


I suppose that could be an option.... While I know AMF has sold the facility to another group. I wasn't told who the other group is.

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## MikeLucky

> I suppose that could be an option.... While I know AMF has sold the facility to another group. I wasn't told who the other group is.


Like I said, I don't have any inside info or anything... but it would surprise me very little if it turned out to be JOMA Co.

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## jn1780

> A lot of talk among people who work(ed) in the area that Bill Warren is looking to buy all of the land over there including where the hospital and bowling alley were. The rumor is that the talk of rebuilding the hospital, at least in that location, is just posturing so they can drive up the price of the land. Time will tell..........


I think they build a new medical facility but it will probably be half the size it used to be. Something similar to what St Anthony's built on I-44.

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## Roger S

I can confirm that the ownership change has taken place. After a conversation I had last night with a manager he didn't seem to confident that the Moore bowl would be re-built and even if it will be he said things we're dragging with the insurance company.

They do plan to do some remodeling on some of the other local centers. So they do at least plan on investing some money into the OKC area.

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## Roger S

The bowling center will not be rebuilt.

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## SoonerDave

> The bowling center will not be rebuilt.


That's too bad. Had heard that was a possibility/probability from someone else that had/has ties to the place, so looks like that's one less bowling center in the area. Realize its not as popular as it once was, but its still sad. Good place for a family evening. Maybe someday someone will try it again. The only other bit of info my contact had was that any rebuild notion was going to include an expansion to 60 lanes, which could not have been supported on that existing site, so maybe someday a bigger family entertainment/bowling thing will happen elsewhere. 

Tornadoes suck.

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## venture

That's a shame. I really like that place and it was the only really good option once AMF Norman closed - Sooner Bowl is horrible.

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## Roger S

Both bowling and billiards have been in a decline for several years. Not sure what, if anything, can be done to rally either.

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## SoonerDave

> Both bowling and billiards have been in a decline for several years. Not sure what, if anything, can be done to rally either.


Yup. We used to love to go to Bowling Green on SW 104th and Western...friends and I would go there on Friday or Saturday nights, and we had several Sunday School fellowships there..then one day...it was just...closed. They were going to revamp it as a "club style" venue in conjunction with some franchise bowling/entertainment thing out of Florida, and in fact had a message on their answering machine to that effect for a time, and then that just fell apart, too. Now its office space and event center. Only bowling I can think of in the general SW OKC area now is Holiday near Shields, and Penn 44 on (surprise) 44th and Penn, and frankly neither place strikes me as particularly inviting. 

Really enjoyed bowling as a kid, heck, even as a grownup...never very good at it, but it was a fun and, for a time, relatively inexpensive way to have some fun with friends. 

My son's HS football team had a fundraiser at the Moore Bowl every year - this last one was about two weeks before the tornado. Obviously had no idea that'd be the last one....ever.

Really, really sad.

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## progressiveboy

> That's too bad. Had heard that was a possibility/probability from someone else that had/has ties to the place, so looks like that's one less bowling center in the area. Realize its not as popular as it once was, but its still sad. Good place for a family evening. Maybe someday someone will try it again. The only other bit of info my contact had was that any rebuild notion was going to include an expansion to 60 lanes, which could not have been supported on that existing site, so maybe someday a bigger family entertainment/bowling thing will happen elsewhere. 
> 
> Tornadoes suck.


 I mentioned this in another thread on here, Texas based "Main Event" is looking and scouting locations for the OKC Metro area. (Source) Dallas Morning News) and Richard Mize (Daily OK). It is very similar to "Gattitown" in that it has bowling lanes and arcades, food etc..Lots of kids birthday parties. Several of my nieces and nephews have had parties there. Very nice and well maintained. Maybe Moore or Norman will be lucky to get one for the southside.

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## SoonerDave

> I mentioned this in another thread on here, Texas based "Main Event" is looking and scouting locations for the OKC Metro area. (Source) Dallas Morning News) and Richard Mize (Daily OK). It is very similar to "Gattitown" in that it has bowling lanes and arcades, food etc..Lots of kids birthday parties. Several of my nieces and nephews have had parties there. Very nice and well maintained. Maybe Moore or Norman will be lucky to get one for the southside.


Interesting...I hope its "real" bowling, however. I haven't been to Gattitown or its predecessor in a long time, but when I did go, their bowling was this strange little hybrid where the pins were all attached via cables to what seemed to be a spring-loaded retraction mechanism, and pin action wasn't at all "normal." It reminded me for all the world of a toy bowling game I had as a kid called a "Bowl-A-Matic 300" that had a phenomenally designed (if not terribly well built) pin reset mechanism. Each pin was tied to an individual spring tensioner, and the ten tensioner springs were attached to a horizontal bar that, in turn, was connected to a handle at the front of the game. The pins had magnets on the bottom that held the pins to the corresponding magnets on the base of the game's alley, and the magnetic force was just enough to overcome the spring tension. When the ball went down the alley and knocked the pins off the magnets, the spring would pull the pins up. You then pulled a handle at the front of the game to lower the tensioner bar, and all the pins set back down on the surface and were held via the magnets. 

It was an ingenious design, but the problem was that the springs would get stretched and lose tension, and pins started falling or wouldn't jump up when hit, and there was really no way to replace the springs...

sorry, I digress....  :Smile:

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## Jim Kyle

> Only bowling I can think of in the general SW OKC area now is Holiday near Shields, and Penn 44 on (surprise) 44th and Penn, and frankly neither place strikes me as particularly inviting.


Is Meridian Lanes at SW 29 and Meridian still open? When I bowled in a travelling league it was one of the better stops, much better than either Holiday or Penn 44...

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## SoonerDave

> Is Meridian Lanes at SW 29 and Meridian still open? When I bowled in a travelling league it was one of the better stops, much better than either Holiday or Penn 44...


Good call, Jim. Yeah, last time I drove by there, it appeared to be open. I've never been there, myself...

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## Jim Kyle

Meridian is 40 lanes. One night in the travelling league, the league president (Bill Riddell) shot a high 800 series, scratch, there. As I recall, it was 879, but I might be wrong about that. It's been more than 20 years ago. I don't know if it's still the state record, but it was at the time. Bill died several years later, of a heart attack while on the golf course. I'm still in sporadic touch with his widow...

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## BigTimePlayer

Look for AMF to sale the property. I worked at the location and after we were laid off the GM has been trying to get someone to tell him what is going on.  He heard in late September that they were going to sale the land soon.  They said it was going to under contract.  When AMF sales land, they put riders on the contract that stipulate no bowling businesses for 20 years!  

A new bowling location may be going in very north Norman next summer though.

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## G.Walker

Moore bowling center won't be rebuilt after tornado | News OK

This is a disappointment! Moore is in definite need of a nice bowling alley. Moreover, the deed states that the new owners of the land can't build a another bowling alley on that land for 20 years, thats crazy. I wonder if they could build an entertainment center there. This would be a great location for a Dave & Buster's!

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## jn1780

> Moore bowling center won't be rebuilt after tornado | News OK
> 
> This is a disappointment! Moore is in definite need of a nice bowling alley. Moreover, the deed states that the new owners of the land can't build a another bowling alley on that land for 20 years, thats crazy. I wonder if they could build an entertainment center there. This would be a great location for a Dave & Buster's!


Yeah, I wonder if the clause goes beyond bowling.  Its kind of a silly thing to put in a deed when the odds of someone building a another bowling alley there is pretty low. Its not like a bowling alley would have to go in a specfic geographic spot.

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## Garin

I noticed that the Amf Moore bowling and the heyday Norman Facebook page has merged.i also noticed that they are moving dirt at heyday and heard they are building a multi level bowling alley. Haven't been able to confirm has anyone else heard about it?

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## Easy180

> I noticed that the Amf Moore bowling and the heyday Norman Facebook page has merged.i also noticed that they are moving dirt at heyday and heard they are building a multi level bowling alley. Haven't been able to confirm has anyone else heard about it?


That would make sense and be cool if it comes to fruition

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## Joe Kimball

> Interesting...I hope its "real" bowling, however. I haven't been to Gattitown or its predecessor in a long time, but when I did go, their bowling was this strange little hybrid where the pins were all attached via cables to what seemed to be a spring-loaded retraction mechanism, and pin action wasn't at all "normal."


if you'll permit me, a bowling enthusiast, a bit of a dissertation that is mildly appropriate:

I hope so as well. I don't believe they have the full-sized lanes at what is now Gattitown, anymore, but indeed they had two kinds: the still-existing arcade-type lanes, which use downsized pins and duckpin-type (that is, five inches in diameter, roughly three and a half pounds, no finger holes) bowling balls, and a full-sized, but not necessarily regulation, series of lanes.

The latter indeed featured what are called "string pinsetters", which actually feature cord to which the pins are physically tied. SoonerDave gave enough of an explanation, for our purposes, of how they work. They're really cheap to operate, requiring only a slightly-trained front-desk attendant versus a trained mechanic or two (think on the order of a diesel mechanic) and there are Canadian and German variants of bowling which have almost exclusively used this type of pinsetter for years. Unfortunately, they're also increasingly common at recreation-type bowling centers -- I even feared that Redpin would be a string house, back when it was announced. The main thing with a string pinsetter, aside from the compromised action of the pins, is that they will not reset a pin that is nudged offspot without falling. The rules state that such a pin must remain as it lies for the second ball. As such, the USBC hasn't approved them.

Additionally, I don't think the lanes were conditioned (read: oiled; they were designed to not need it, IIRC -- again, real rec, don't-care-about-bowling stuff), which takes away another element of tenpin bowling. A minor annoyance was the prominent jukebox console on the scoring desks, which only featured Christian rock. There's a perfectly fine middle ground between the otherwise acceptable works of, say, Family Force 5 and -- uh, whatever band was most offensive at the moment...Rammstein, Marilyn Manson? You get the point.

So! Yes. Hopefully we avoid all of this for the future. I'd sooner it were a factory showroom than a hodge-podge of cost-cutting errors.

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## cdoyle

> That would make sense and be cool if it comes to fruition


Just to make sure all of you have seen the news on HeyDay (I noticed a few of you have also been on that thread).  HeyDay is adding bowling set to open Fall of 2014.

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## wahoorob

Here's the official scoop on HeyDay's plans for expansion that includes plans for bowling:

Video at:
News | Moore Monthly


By Christiaan Patterson

Hey Day is expanding by adding a new 28,000 square foot, two-level facility, containing 24 lanes of bowling, 7 private party rooms, large general seating for 450 people and an upscale upstairs lounge. 

HeyDay will also remodel much of its current facility. The remodel will require HeyDay to shut down all operations for 2 weeks in early Fall 2014, and have a new, grand re-opening for the entire facility.

The Lanes at HeyDay will feature 16 lanes of bowling and 4 private party rooms in the lower level as well as 8 boutique lanes of bowling with 3 private party rooms in the upstairs lounge level. In the lounge, adults 21 years and older will have access to:

-a fireplace
-island bar
-televisions
-pool table
-shuffleboard
-balcony & outside seating

Its exciting to bring this unique kind entertainment option to our community, something you would have to travel to Dallas, or the East or West coasts to find. We also love the fact, that being on I-35, we are only 15 minutes from 
downtown Oklahoma City and the greater, southern Oklahoma City area, said Brad Little, owner of HeyDay Entertainment.

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## jn1780

Heydays expansion plans are pretty cool, but its always going to be mostly kids or teens.  That's probably the only way a modern bowling alley will  survive now though.

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## bucfan1512

Like most people have said in this thread already sadly bowling interest is on the decline and it is hard to draw youth like it did 10-15 years ago.  I used to love bowling before I went to college and started to notice that leagues raised there prices almost 40% while I was away.  It has got to the point where without leagues most bowling centers in are fair city are going to experience hard times or simply sell off.  I bowled at Penn 44 for over a decade and the main reason they have been able to stick around is the fact they are independently owned and can set their own prices.  This has allowed them to have special nights that AMF would never authorize that people attend heavily.  I often thought of owning a bowling alley when I was younger but a quick look into start-up costs and your already in the millions of dollars just for a 24 lane facility.  Sadly the only new bowling I believe we will see is going to be that of HeyDays model.  I hope that I am wrong as I have just moved to Moore and it would have been nice to have a bowling alley so close.

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## OKCisOK4me

I bowled on a 36 week league for 10 years. Paying $400 or more and getting back a prize fund of anywhere between $50-120 is not worth the work I put in. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## jn1780

> Like most people have said in this thread already sadly bowling interest is on the decline and it is hard to draw youth like it did 10-15 years ago.  I used to love bowling before I went to college and started to notice that leagues raised there prices almost 40% while I was away.  It has got to the point where without leagues most bowling centers in are fair city are going to experience hard times or simply sell off.  I bowled at Penn 44 for over a decade and the main reason they have been able to stick around is the fact they are independently owned and can set their own prices.  This has allowed them to have special nights that AMF would never authorize that people attend heavily.  I often thought of owning a bowling alley when I was younger but a quick look into start-up costs and your already in the millions of dollars just for a 24 lane facility.  Sadly the only new bowling I believe we will see is going to be that of HeyDays model.  I hope that I am wrong as I have just moved to Moore and it would have been nice to have a bowling alley so close.


I took a date to Meridian Bowl last Friday and when we arrived at 7. There was about 10 guys sitting around drinking and 1 employee bowling. By the time, we left at 8:30 there were 6 people bowling on 3 lanes.

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## bucfan1512

> I bowled on a 36 week league for 10 years. Paying $400 or more and getting back a prize fund of anywhere between $50-120 is not worth the work I put in. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


This is another reason that I stepped away from leagues as well.  At $20 dollars a week over a 36 weeks you are looking at $720.00  Now if your team were to win the league and you take how some awards like highest average and high game and what not the most anyone ever walked away with was $450.00  I like bowling for fun but I would like to at least have an opportunity to make back what I put in if I were to win the league.  Now most people who are talented are bowling once a week on the weekend in tournaments where for $50 you can have the opportunity to have a amazing return.  Sadly for people who really just bowl for fun this is not a option as most tournaments with decent payouts are scratch only.  Call it shallow or whatever for bowling for money but even as a kid when I won a tournament I won scholarship money towards college.  Love of the game only kept me around so long and sadly I have not been in a league for almost 3 years.

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