The pins have been knocked down at Nanaimo's Brechin Lanes, and this time, they're not being set back up.
The five-pin bowling centre's final day of business was Sunday, Sept. 29, and the doors are now closed for good at the facility that had operated at the East Wellington Road location since the 1970s.
Owner Ray Brittain said Brechin Lanes didn't have a farewell bash on its last day partly because a lot of staff members had already moved on. The centre did host tournaments on each of its last two weekends that attracted bowlers from all over Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, and a lot of familiar faces stopped by in recent weeks to say goodbye and get in one last game. Brittain said there were former league bowlers who hadn't visited in some time, and former youth bowlers who are all grown up now with families of their own.
"It's clear that there are a lot of people that are going to miss the place and unfortunately they all realize it's a sign of the times, there are getting to be fewer and fewer bowling centres," he said. "We're just kind of another statistic."
As costs of doing business escalated, it eventually became clear to Brittain that he needed to sell. He was initially hopeful of selling to someone who would continue to run the facility as a bowling centre, but that interest fell through, and now the building is slated to become a sporting goods store.
"There's sadly an activity that Nanaimo's losing that's not being replaced by anything. Hopefully somebody can figure out somewhere to put a bowling centre because I would love to sell some equipment to somebody else in Nanaimo … even if it's only eight lanes or six lanes, so that people have an activity," he said. "Because there's literally hundreds of people, special needs, seniors, people that need social interaction that have been getting it from here that won't be getting it from somewhere else."
The lanes will now be dismantled over the next few weeks. Six of the 16 lanes – the synthetic overlays – are going to Port Hardy, the computer scoring system will go to Winnipeg, and parts from two of the pin-setting machines have been sold to several bowling centres around B.C.
After those tasks are taken care of, Brittain is not sure of what's next. Running the business has been stressful on the family, he said, and he and his wife Tianna look forward to travelling without worrying if everything is OK at the bowling centre.
When Ray spoke with the News Bulletin on the last day of business, he said his family hadn't quite decided on their plans to bowl a final game, but expected they would end things with a strike, one way or another.
"It's been very emotional. I'm not sure I have any tears left," he said. "It's humbling to know how many people have been through here and have enjoyed their time here and have been welcomed by us and felt like it's a safe space. It's been really neat to see."
