Bowlers Update
Spillway Lanes bowling alley closes
June 06, 2007
By BOB REED, STAFF WRITER Spillway Lanes, a family-owned Springfield bowling business spanning more than 60 years and two locations, has closed its doors at 1025 Outer Park Dr. “We’re officially closing right now,’’ owner Dave James said Tuesday night. “It’s partially due to the (city) smoking ban. It took 50 percent of my bar, quite a chunk of change.’’ James wouldn’t comment further on the details of the closing. The 36-lane bowling center was dark Tuesday and a sign on the door said “Closed as of May 12 for the summer -reopening Aug. 3 for annual Firecracker Tournament,” but word has spread in the local bowling community that the James family won’t reopen the lanes. “To put it lightly, it’s the end of an era,’’ said Springfield’s Jeff Carter, a Professional Bowlers Association Tour member who finished third in this year’s U.S. Open. “The James family has been in the business of bowling more years than I’ve been alive. I began my career at the original Spillway Lanes (at 1120 E. Sangamon Ave.) I’ve known the family my entire life. “It’s tougher and tougher to be in the bowling business. It’s unfortunate to see things like this happen.’’ Rick Rakowski, a retired physical education teacher at Grant Middle School and a veteran bowler at Spillway, said he heard it was closing a few nights ago and had heard rumors of its demise for the last three or four months. “They didn’t have a lot of bowlers anymore,” Rakowski said. “I’d guess there were more in open bowling than leagues. I think I was in the only Tuesday night league. We had 10 teams in the league, three people to a team.’’ One of the reasons Rakowski liked Spillway may have contributed to the alley’s reduced popularity with other bowlers. “I think the conditions were tougher at Spillway than at other places,” said Rakowski, who said he had bowled at Spillway for 30 or 35 years, including when it was located near the Illinois State Fairgrounds. “They probably wouldn’t average as high, and bowlers went to other lanes. That’s my observation. The tougher conditions were a challenge to me.” Rakowski took his PE classes to Spillway for his students to learn the game. “I’ve been friends with the Jameses for a long time,” Rakowski said. “I hate to hear it close.” The closing surprised Greater Springfield Bowling Association manager Gene Rogers, who was reached at a bowling tournament in Reno, Nev. “The conversation I had with Dave two or three weeks ago at the Senior Round the Town was he was wanting to make improvements to the facility,” Rogers said. “He was going to close it during the summer to make the improvements. I’m surprised. It’s a shame because the James family has been in the bowling business for many years.” Charles James opened Springfield’s first Spillway Lanes on the north end in 1946, moving the business from Poplar Bluff, Mo. Charles James’ son Stew bought the business with his wife Betty in 1962. The old eight-lane Spillway burned to the ground on April 24, 1984, after an electrical fire started in the attic. Stew James returned to the bowling business in 1985 when he and his son Dave purchased Town and Country Lanes near the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Outer Park Drive. The 36-lane Town and Country had been owned by MacArthur Bowl Inc. of Chicago since it was built in 1960. The family changed the name of Town and Country to Spillway South, which later came to be known as Spillway Lanes. The James family is closely associated with Springfield bowling. Stew James was inducted into the Greater Springfield Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1986, and he is one of four members of the immediate family in the Hall of Fame. Charles James entered the Hall in 1980, Dave James was inducted in 2004 and Stew James’ uncle, Art, was inducted in 1977. “It was still the main family owned operation in town,’’ Carter said. “The other houses are owned by corporations or partnerships.’’ Springfield still has 44-lane AMF Laketown Lanes, 36-lane Strike ’N Spare West and 36-lane King Pin Lanes. “Bowling’s been on a slow decline for a lot of years,’’ the 37-year-old Carter said. “Springfield had 152 lane beds (counting Spillway’s 36) in a town of 110,000 people. That’s probably too many lane beds for a town this size.’’ Staff writer Ron Dickerson contributed to this report. Bob Reed can be reached at 788-1557 or bob.reed@sj-r.com. Read
Snapshot - Smoking Ban Impact on Bars/Bowling Centers
Springfield, IL & Unincorporated Sangamon County, IL
September 27, 2006
Following are actual statistics reflecting examples of the negative impact upon individual businesses following the recently instituted smoking ban ordinances, effective in Springfield, Illinois and surrounding unincorporated Sangamon County this September 15, 2006 (less than two weeks ago).
When small businesses account for about two-thirds of our country's economic growth and new jobs, it is difficult to comprehend elected officials' reasoning in voting to implement an intrusive ordinance which will hurt those same business owners.
A restaurant owner who does not permit smoking will see it as a violation of his property rights if a coalition uses the political arena to create legislation forcing him to permit smoking. It is no less a property rights violation in reverse. If a restaurant owner wishes to permit smoking, he might put up a “Smoking Permitted” sign and let potential patrons decide whether they wish to enter. Similarly, if an owner doesn’t permit smoking, he might put up a “No Smoking” sign and again let the customers decide.
SNAPSHOT OF SMOKING BAN IMPACT ON BARS & BOWLING CENTERS IN SPRINGFIELD AND UNINCORPORATED SANGAMON COUNTY:
D.H. Browns—business down more than 50%
- The last time Brown’s had a Monday as low as the first Monday of the ban was 8 years ago during a snowstorm.
- Brown’s will likely have to lay off their doormen—on top of the lost employment, this will increase the chances of underage drinkers violating the law.
- Two (2) waitresses informed management that they will have to give their notice and try to get a job in one of the neighboring communities that permit smoking because they are no longer making any money.
Track Shack—business down 42%
- For the first time, the owner had to draw money out of his personal funds to pay Track Shack’s bills.
American Legion Post # 32—business down more than 50%
Floyd’s—business down, but not substantially
JW’s Lounge—business down over 40%
Stadium—business down 40%
- 10 people in bar, 43 in Beer Garden on Wednesday night, numbers similar on the other nights.
Cheers—business down more than 50%
- $400 to $500 previous average daily sales—haven’t had one night over $200 since the ban went into effect.
Bernie & Betty’s—business down 40%
Knuckleheads—business down 40%
Mac’s Lounge—business down more than 25%
- Customers who were regulars prior to the ban have been calling Mac’s to tell them what a great time they were having at the Curve Inn in Southern View where smoking is permitted.
Sammy’s—business down, but not substantially
VFW Northender—business down, but percentage is unknown
- Waitress made a total of $14 in tips during her shift on Monday, and $17 on Tuesday—substantially lower than past experience.
Spillway Lanes—bar business is down more than 25%
- Lost 10 bowling teams since ban, gained only 1.
Black Dog Saloon, Winner’s Circle & Teasers had to close over 2 hours early this week due to lack of customers
-----------------------------------------
SNAPSHOT OF SMOKING BAN IMPACT ON BARS IN INCORPORATED SANGAMON COUNTY OUTSIDE OF SPRINGFIELD
- Business up about 80% at bars in Sherman
- Business up more than 80% at bars in Southern View
From: Garnet Dawn To: Daily Herald (Letters to the Editor) Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 2:51 PM Subject: Letter to the Editor: For bowlers, ban would be one unlucky strike - Cook County Suburbs, IL Dear Editor: If any bowling alley business owners in Chicagoland and it's suburbs believe that suddenly non-smokers are going to begin bowling regularly and form leagues, I wish them luck. That hope is only another fairy-tale. I imagine the Brady Bunch crowd they are hoping to attract will not be contributing much to their liquor sales either. All one has to do is read about the economic effects upon bowling alleys in other smoke banned communities to forecast the inevitable results. American Cancer Society's David Riggs can take satisfaction that his daughter should be able to enjoy bowling in empty alleys for now, until they are forced to close their doors and go out of business. Time to welcome the demise of another great social institution. Smokers cannot leave the premises and go outside in their bowling shoes to have a smoke. It doesn't take a genius to calculate the results. Garnet Dawn Illinois Smokers Rights - http://www.illinoissmokersrights.com/
------
For bowlers, ban would be one unlucky strike
Some alley owners say smoke-free laws will hurt them; others say they might make alleys more attractive to families
September 20, 2006
BY ED FANSELOW, Daily Herald Staff Writer
Since the days when the pins were set by hand, bowling in America has been personified by the pot-bellied 50-something with a ball in one hand, a beer in the other and a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Just picture Fred Flintstone, Woody Harrelson in "Kingpin" or John Goodman in "The Big Lebowski."
But much like human pinsetters and scoring by hand, the days of lighting up inside the neighborhood bowling alley are about to end - at least in several suburbs where indoor smoking bans are expected to take effect after Jan. 1.
While restaurateurs and tavern owners have been among the most vocal critics of the new laws - which would prohibit cigarette smoking indoors in almost any public place - many bowling alley owners also are worried about loyal customers taking their bowling balls elsewhere if they can't light up.
At least seven popular bowling alleys in Palatine, Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove Village and Rolling Meadows will likely be forced to go smoke-free after the first of the year.
That's welcome news for David Riggs, regional vice president for the American Cancer Society and the father of a child with asthma.
Riggs, a Hoffman Estates resident, said his now 17-year-old daughter, Jill, had to drop out of a park district bowling league as a 10-year-old after smoke hanging in the air made it difficult for her to breathe.
"The smoke was just pervasive inside," he said. "The way things are now, if you can't deal with cigarette smoke, bowling alleys are pretty much off limits, and that's too bad."
But while sympathetic to such situations, some local bowling alley owners say indoor smoking bans would deal a crushing blow to their profits.
"It's going to hurt our business big time, especially the league play," said Richard Griggs, owner of the Poplar Creek Bowl in Hoffman Estates.
He estimated at least half his customers like to smoke while bowling and said many league players already are making plans to move to nearby bowling alleys where smoking still will be allowed.
The same holds true at Elk Grove Bowl, where owner Debbie Handler said as many as two-thirds of her men's, women's and mixed-league bowlers are smokers.
"We're already down quite a few teams over last year," she said. "A lot of our bowlers who smoke say they're going to give it a try somewhere else. And once they're gone, they're not going to come back."
Still, not all bowling alleys are fighting the new no-smoking rules, which have yet to be formally approved in Palatine, Hoffman Estates and Arlington Heights.
Don Jones, marketing director for Lake Forest-based Brunswick Bowling & Billiards, which owns and operates the Brunswick Zone bowling alleys in Palatine and a dozen other suburban communities, said the company "supports and encourages" smoking bans.
"We're finding that our customers want a smoke-free environment," he said, adding that Brunswick Zones are geared toward families, teens and children.
"One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that when people think of bowling, they think of smoking," he said. "But the face of bowling is changing and people are looking for a safe environment."
Bob Habetler, owner of the five-decades-old Habelter Bowl on Chicago's far Northwest Side, disputes that notion.
Like all other bowling alleys and restaurants in the city, Hebetler went smoke-free beginning at the start of the year.
"People will try to tell you that all these non-smokers are going to come out of the woodwork and fill the places out once they ban the smoking," Habetler said. "But that's bull."
On the first night of league play soon after the ban was instituted, five teams told him they were leaving after they were surprised to learn that they couldn't smoke.
"It's hurt our league-play business and its hurt our bar business," he said. "Luckily for us, we've been here for almost 50 years, so we can weather the storm."
At Elk Grove Bowl, Handler is counting on the same sentiment, hoping that smokers who've been coming to the bowling alley since it opened in 1963 will adapt to the new rules and duck outside for a drag between frames. She's even installed covered benches outdoors with those customers in mind.
"We've gone through a lot of changes over the years and this is just another one," Handler said. "We're just going to have to find a way to adjust."
|
