MIDDLETOWN — As part of a major renovation effort at Eastern Lanes, synthetic lanes are replacing the facility’s well-used wooden ones.
The project, expected to be completed next week, will cost $210,000 for 36 synthetic QubicaAMF bowling lanes and an expanded kitchen at the facility on 6943 Coles Road.
Of the total amount, $180,000 will go toward the lane renovations. Bowling officials believe the wooden lanes have been around since 1960.
“When workers were removing the old wooden lanes, they found a Chicago Tribune sports section dated July 21, 1960. I remember seeing the main headline, which read ‘Cubs rout Reds, 8-1,’ ” Eastern Lanes co-owner Ron Volmering said Wednesday. “We’re guessing that it was a Chicago-based construction crew that put the paper in there.”
Volmering said the lanes had worn thin after more than 50 years of sanding and general use. There was concern nailheads would soon come through the thinning lane surfaces and damage bowling balls passing over them.
The synthetic lanes are expected to last at least 25 years.
The switch to the smooth artificial surface hasn’t gone without it’s rough moments, however. Figuring out an oil pattern conducive to all playing styles has been a challenge.
“This is all new to our bowlers, but it’s just as new to us,” Volmering said. “Right now, head mechanic Chris Rishforth, Mark Moon and I are working with a couple companies to try and figure out the right kind of oil pattern to put down on the new lanes.
“We appreciate the senior league bowlers for their patience as we continue to work to find the best oil pattern.”
The first large men’s league took place Thursday on the new lanes.
Volmering said Eastern Lanes plans on leaving a time capsule under the lanes for bowling officials who make the next lane renovation roughly 25 years from now. They haven’t decided exactly what to leave under the lanes.
“It’ll be somewhere under lanes 25 to 36,” he said. “Maybe 25 years from now, I’ll still be here to help them find it.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.