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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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

[SoonerDave]

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

[Roger S]

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

[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....

[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...

[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

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

[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

[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!

[kevinpate]

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

[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.

[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.

[Mel]

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

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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..........

[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?

[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

[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?

[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.