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Slow return for bowling alleys

With one Thunder Bay bowling alley currently open, bowlers are beginning a slow return to the sport

THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay bowlers are beginning a tentative return to the sport. Only one of the city’s two bowling alleys has opened its lanes, while a third permanently closed its doors earlier this month.

Curtis Laye, an assistant manager at Mario’s Bowl on Memorial Avenue, said business has been quiet since the alley reopened on July 17, when Ontario entered Stage 3 in its reopening framework. That allowed Mario’s to welcome up to 50 customers at a time – a limit they have yet to reach.

It’s an uncertain moment for the sport, but Laye sees better times ahead as bowlers see the venue’s safety precautions for themselves, and expects demand to increase as the summer weather wanes.

“Once they come in and see what we’ve done, people seem to be pretty happy about being able to come back bowling,” he said.

Precautions include large shields separating lanes, plexiglass barriers at customers service areas, spaced tables at the restaurant, and enhanced cleaning “from stem to stern” after each group (including balls and, yes, finger holes).

Customers must also wear masks inside the building, with limited exceptions: they can be removed once past the railing and on the alley itself while bowling, or in the restaurant area only while eating. While not everyone is thrilled with that new reality, it has yet to cause any problems, Laye reported.

“There’s been a few customers who are leery about wearing the masks inside – we just have to ask them to put them on,” he said. “So far we haven’t had too much pushback on that.”

The business has submitted a plan to Ontario’s ministry of health, hoping to raise its capacity to 150. Laye said that would still allow for plenty of space for distancing inside the building (the ministry generally looks for four square metres of space per person, he said).

If approved, the change would allow league play to resume, though likely in a staggered fashion.

In the meantime, Mario’s is making the best of an unprecedented situation. Reopening is far from a sure bet financially, said Laye, but the business felt confident it could offer a safe bowling experience to players eager to hit the boards again.

“We’re very concerned if it’s going to be financially viable to open, but we’re hopeful it’s going to continue getting better,” he said. “We were excited to reopen, just to get people back to work and have people enjoy the game they’d been missing. We had quite a few calls while we were closed.”

Laye called the recent closure of the Superior Bowlodrome on the city’s south end “quite a loss” to the city’s bowling community, which he said remains vibrant.

“Our youth league creates friends for life,” he said. “You can see that when you come out [for league games] – you’ll see a lot of ex-YBC bowlers who have been doing it their whole life. When you start bowling, you’re welcomed into a community that’s really close, and you feel like you’re at home.”

The city’s other remaining bowling alley, Galaxy Lanes on Arthur Street, has reopened its restaurant and bar, with bowling expected to resume soon.



Ian Kaufman

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