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Emily Featherston
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Courtesy of Angela Nance
Just in time for fall leagues and teams, 28 of the lanes at Vestavia Bowl are being replaced with pristine new panels, approaches and lane beds.
General Manager Angela Nance said while most recreational bowlers wouldn’t notice, many of Vestavia Bowl’s lanes have warped over the last few years.
This is due largely in part to three major floods that left a majority of the lanes completely under water.
The worst of the floods happened about two and half years ago, when the lanes were not only covered in water, but also mud and other flood debris.
Since then, Nance said the staff has tried to take up boards and flatten them by hand, but that things have progressed to where the lanes can’t be saved.
“We knew that it was time,” she said.
In the immediate aftermath of the flood, she said the replacement process was too costly to undertake, and the alley was able to get by because most bowlers wouldn’t notice.
Now, she said, with an ever-increasing number of serious bowlers as well as middle school and high school teams utilizing the facilities, the time had come to make the transition.
Nance said the replacements will come from Brunswick Bowling Products, the same provider the alley has used for years, and that customers won’t really notice a difference visually, but that serious bowlers should see an improvement in their scores on those lanes.
She said they hope to replace six lanes per week, finishing the entire project in roughly five weeks. In the mean time, the rest of the alley will remain open, with just the lanes currently under construction being roped off. Lanes No. 1-6 will not be affected, as they were not damaged in the floods.
Work is scheduled to begin the week after Labor Day.
For updates, visit vestaviabowl.com.
