R.I.P. Oregon Lanes

I've heard it may become a multi-store front building. Supposedly a dollar store will be one of the businesses going in. Yay, a dollar store.

We are turning it into a 5 bay shopping center. Yes, Dollar Tree is one of the tenants. Sorry that does not excite some but we do have several other tenants that we are talking to that may be a little more satisfying to local residents. Trust in this economy it is not easy getting retailers these days.
In the new center down the street (next to Mattress Firm) Biggby Coffee, Penn Station and Happy's Pizza (out of Southfield, Michigan) is going in over there. Perhaps that is a little more of what Oregon needs/wants at the moment.

Something is better than nothing. Hard to believe the picture in the Blade on Sunday showing the 20th dollar store was opening in the Toledo area.

While I did sarcastically make a reference about dollar stores, I am happy to hear something is going in there. I wish you the best of luck. I am eager to see what you guys have planned.

I think it is neat that you were able to repurpose the old building, rather than tear it down.

That seems to happen a lot around here. It got me thinking...how many former bowling alleys are still standing around here?

1. Rumpus Room, Front street: still open as a bar, bowling lanes are now used as a rental hall

2. Marathon Lanes, Sylvania avenue: now Marathon Cleaners & tan

3. Moline Lanes: now Glass City Boardwalk

4. Everglades Cafe & lanes, route 25 south of Perrysburg: now just a restaurant

5. Highland/Airport Lanes: Now a bingo place?

6. Mercury Recreation: now some kind of church, I think

7. University Lanes: Some kind of live venue now, I think

8. Supreme Recreation, Lagrange street: Still there, but I think it is vacant

9. Skowronek's, Lagrange street: Now a banquet hall

10. I think there was a bowling alley at Elm and Bronson, the name of which escapes me at the moment, that is also now a church.

11. Monoky's, Whittemore street: now a house

Did I miss any?

10. Elm Recreation

Oh, DUH. How did I forget that?

Glass Bowl, Telegraph and Detroit and Laskey, still alive and kickin.

Love Biggby's and Penn Station, very nice, thank you!

Wasn't Glass Bowl one of the ones that used to be open 24-7-365?

There was a time--within my lifetime--when you could find an open bowling alley in this area literally any time of the day, any day of the year. You could bowl on Christmas morning.

Those new places sound great. Especially Bigby Coffee, that's the only thing I missed or wanted in Oregon (Coffee shop). Even toyed with the idea myself of opening on here since there aren't any.

Sad to see a place of historical/cultural meaning go away, but glad to see it get reused rather than sit vacant.

Did I miss any?

Imperial Lanes?

Showcase Lanes is now Office Depot/Max on Monroe.

I think the Imperial Lanes building was demolished, wasn't it?

As for Showcase, I thought the same thing. Is Office Max in what used to be the actual bowling alley? I wasn't aware.

I actually tried to sit down one time, using several resources, and make a list of all the bowling alleys that have come and gone from this area since around 1900 or so. It is damn hard. There have been so many bowling alleys in this area it is unbelievable. I even found a Blade article from the late 50s, where they said there was one bowling lane for every 50 residents of the city of Toledo, and the GTBPA was afraid the market was too saturated.

Yes, the Office Max is in the same building. I used to work at Showcase.

Bonus Trivia: What was in that building before Showcase Lanes?

I smell a need for a WGTE Toledo Stories documentary on the bowling alleys and famous bowlers of the Glass City. Anybody else agree?

Isn't Twin Oaks on Sylvania still open for bowling? I remember when they cut the trees down! :(

I remember Hagertys downtown Toledo and Milos at South and Spencer.I think there was also a Jugs bowling alley.

Westland Lanes was popular in its time, now called Bowlero Lanes. Also, anyone remember the local "Bowling for dollars" show that aired back in hte 70's I believe.

Westland Lanes was popular in its time, now called Bowlero Lanes. Also, anyone remember the local "Bowling for dollars" show that aired back in hte 70's I believe.

Hagerty's & Milo's were both before my time, but I do recall reading about them. Hagerty's burned down; and I think the MIlo's building is gone too, correct?

Jugs is still open, I go there once in a while. Twin Oaks is also still open, and has one of the nicest operations around, in my opinion. The place is very clean, the owners are nice, and the bowling equipment works flawlessly. I do wish the trees were still there, though!

I think BOWLING FOR DOLLARS was taped at Highland Lanes, at one time...

The building where Milo's was has been torn down.It only had six lanes,but I learned how to bowl there.There was also another bowling alley upstairs above a bar near Western and the Anthony Wayne Trail,but I am not sure of the name.It could have been a place called Jaeger's.

I miss bowling in Toledo. Imperial Lanes is where it started for me.

Also, Rossford Lanes is still active, on the south edge of downtown on River Rd. Is Interstate further out on Lime City by 75 and Buck Rd. still running? We used to take the kids there a lot on Sunday morning. Also, Sports Center on Starr is still up. :)

Answer to Bonus Trivia from yesterday:

The building that Showcase Lanes went into previously housed a toy store called "Spree."

It was Jaeger's. Before my time, but I had heard of it. I found an article in the Blade from 1966 that mentioned it still had human pinsetters. I assume that building is also gone?

Just remembered, there was a little bowling alley in the basement of a building on Sylvania, cannot even remember the block but I think it was closer to Lewis than Douglas. Only there twice, probably in 1969 as a senior, they had human pinsetters, too, a friend worked there and we went to hang out with him.

^King Pin Lanes - no "human pinsetters, i.e. pinboys", used American made mechancial pinspotters from AMF.

Interesting, I didn't know that. Blew through untold amounts of quarters playing Gorf and Galaxian at the old Showcase arcade. Loved that place.

Birdie King 2 was my game at Showcase. That sunken arcade room was pretty cool, now that I think about it.

Trying to remember some of the places to add to the list of bowling centers.....
Glennwood lanes.
Bowladrome.
West toledo Rec.
Sylvania Lanes.

Paladium.
Rumpus.
Douglas lanes....now Miracle
Airport lanes.....also houses Nicks music and Games.

I had sat down after bowling one night with some of the older guys.....I think we came up with about 37 bowling centers all together.

I will try to remember some more and post.

There was one in Point Place too forget the name of it.

^New Barge Inn...I know, I'm a genius

Based on my research, there was the Bowl-O-Drome (which was next to Rosary Cathedral, right?) and, at one time, also one called the Pal-a-Drome, and the two may or may not have operated at the same time.

There was also a bowling alley across from Tony Packos, here their parking lot is now, was it Goldstein's?

The library website photo section also shows a small bowling alley at 2214 Front (near Paine) in a photo dated 1937. It gives no name, though.

Also, Regal Lanes on Dorr. Building gone now, I think?

^ Yep, Regal Lanes turned into the Drought House, the Agora, etc. etc. Frank's Nursery and now field.

Regal lanes.....was owned by the Young family, if I remember correctly.

Also, in the basement of the big building at the southeast corner of Starr and 4th, was East Toledo Recreation.

I wonder if there are any abandoned bowling alleys around...?

I remember the Spree toy store. I'm guessing that it was around 1971 or so...

Sure; although, if you mean abandoned bowling alleys that still have bowling equipment in them, that is much harder to find. There was the Playdium, of course, but the bowling lanes were long gone from that building. I would guess the lanes are also long gone from East Toledo Rec, too; I seem to recall reading that a boxing gym moved into that space at some point long ago. Seems like once a bowling alley closes, the bowling lanes get torn out pretty quick; whatever the fate of the rest of the building is going to be.

There was an abandoned bowling alley called Riviera Lanes down in Belaire, when I was very young we used to explore inside there when we'd go down to visit my great-grandmother who lived nearby. That one was shut down because of air contamination from coal mine gas. But, when we wandered in, everything WAS still there--the lanes, pins, balls, pinsetters, seats, etc.--albeit in pretty bad shape and under attack from the elements and vandals. It was still pretty cool, though. I am pretty sure the whole place got leveled at some point.

There was one called Star Lanes, south of Marion, on SR 4, I think. It was closed but still standing last I knew, but whether or not there would be anything left inside worth seeing, I am not sure. If you google it there are a lot of exterior pictures. There is also Jolly Lanes, at the corner of SR 4 and US 20, outside of Bellevue, but again, I have no idea what the status of the place is.

Not exactly an abandoned bowling alley is the Rumpus Room on Consaul. It has been converted to a rental hall next to the bar; the alleys still visible as part of the floor.

Glenwood Lanes, how could I forget that?? I learned to bowl there in an after-school league (Glenwood Elementary). Had league the day Kennedy was shot, walked into the place and everyone was crying, it was surreal, even at my young age (12). I had no idea until that moment that anything had happened, they didn't say anything to us at school.

So, maybe he worked maintenance, but I remember distinctly walking down the steps behind my friend and seeing him come out from behind the pin wall as we got to the bottom. He was her friend so I guess I didn't really catch what he was doing. LOOOng time ago, lol. :)

re: Rumpus Room...
http://toledo.craigslist.org/muc/3523988951.html

Hmm. They refer to the bowling lanes in that ad, years after the lanes were shut down.

Rumpus Room is funny that way. They still have the old 'BOWLING LANES' sign out front, and they still mention their history as a bowling alley in ads like this. An old high school friend who hangs out there told me once that they still get out-of-towners who wander in every so often wanting to bowl.

Toledo used to be full of places like that; little bowling taverns. Not so much a bowling alley with a bar in it, but rather more of a bar that just happens to have some bowling lanes in it. Most of those places are gone now, but if you want to capture that experience, Secor Lanes comes pretty close. Their lanes are not very well maintained, but in my estimation, they still have that neighborhood-tavern-bowling-alley feel intact.

Here's one, in Detroit:

http://detroiturbex.com/content/parksandrec/redbowl/index.html

Looks neat...breaks my heart to see classics like that in ruins...

boy, I would love to have a couple of those lanes, they make GREAT workbenches!!!

Secor Lanes, imo, is on to something. They have a bar with a bowling alley......instead of the traditional bowling alley with a bar. The retro feel is pretty cool, too. Since leagues are a dying/dead pastime, bowling alleys must change their strategies. I like the owner's of Secor Lane's willingness to try something different.

I agree. I just hope they stick with it! Beginning in the 70s, there was a trend among places like that to turn the bowling lanes into a dance floor or hall space. That is how we lost Marathon Lanes, Airport Lanes, Moline Lanes, Rumpus Room, Playdium, the list goes on. Let's hope Secor stays the course. Because, honestly, their bowling lanes are situated in what would be a perfect spot for a dance floor, if they decided to go that route.

I go in there, once in a while, during the day, and am the only person bowling. I get a kick out of the way the people at the bar kind of sit and stare at me. It was off-putting at first, but I got used to it. I thought maybe they were staring because they didn't want me there, but I later came to feel like they were staring simply because I was giving them something to stare at.