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Athens bowling alley could become a storage facility if no one steps in to reopen it
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The shuttered Rollerbowl Lanes bowling alley in Athens could be converted into storage units, but the family that owns it is open to alternatives.
It did get a fresh coat of paint during the shutdown, leaving many locals hopeful that one of the few options for indoor family entertainment in the area would return.
But the owners no longer plan to reopen it.
Cindy Lutz, whose grandfather started the business decades ago as a combination roller skating rink and bowling alley, thus the name Rollerbowl, said her family had planned to open it back up after the initial pandemic shutdowns were lifted.
But it just didn’t pencil out, Lutz said. Even before the pandemic the bowling alley was struggling. Reopening under the social distancing and cleaning requirements in place at the time would have meant fewer open lanes while the overhead costs of running the place would have stayed the same or even increased.
So the building, on Palmer Avenue just off Stimson Avenue, has sat idle now for more than two years.
Lutz and her husband, Tim, own two storage businesses under the name Get Storage, one in Athens and the other in The Plains. Lutz said she has no interest in running a bowling alley. Storage is her business, and if nothing else is going to happen with the venue, she and her husband will likely convert at least part of it into a storage facility.
“That is not set in stone,” Lutz emphasized. The family, which includes her father, Roger Kasler, who had been running the bowling alley, is open to suggestions if someone wants to reopen the bowling alley or do something else with the space.
“We are definitely open minded and very approachable,” she said. But if someone does want to step in, they need to come with adequate financing and a solid business plan.
Lutz said she understands how disappointed some people in the community are that the bowling alley might never reopen. It’s hard for her family too, she said. She practically grew up there.
“It’s heartbreaking because it’s always been in our family,” she said.
Athens resident Caleb Amos is among those concerned the city may lose one of its last family entertainment venues. He and his wife have three children and have spent most of their birthdays at the bowling alley. The night before Thanksgiving and Christmas break have also been bowling traditions for his family.
“You can’t keep one thing nice in this town? What the heck?” Amos said. “What’s going to draw people?”
Amos said he’s been working behind the scenes to try and save the bowling alley. He’s had several meetings with a prominent local business owner who has expressed interest in trying to reopen the venue.
Buying the property outright would be costly. The assessed value of the properties by the Athens County auditor pushes toward seven figures.
But buying isn’t the only option as the owners are open to some kind of lease arraignment.
Lutz said one of the challenges in running a bowling alley is getting people to come in on weekdays.
“In a small town like Athens, you cannot really rely on people who just come in and bowl on a Friday, Saturday night,” she said.
Bowling leagues used to fill the weekday slots and were a principal source of revenue for bowling alleys everywhere, Lutz said. But these leagues are not nearly as popular as they used to be, now consisting mostly of older people with too few young people coming in to replace them.
Amos is one of those younger people who joined the local men’s league. He was such a regular he even had his own locker at the bowling alley.
“There was a big sense of community,” he said. “Everybody got to know each other on a common level, rolling a ball down a lane trying to hit pins.”
Many of the league members were much older, and Amos said this is part of the sadness in seeing the bowling alley shut down.
Several from the league have died, he said. “We would have gone and rolled some games in their honor.”