So long, pins and gutters. Welcome, pews and Bibles.
Country Lanes closed its doors for good this week, after owner Jim Valentine reached an agreement to sell the bowling alley to Iola?s Harvest Baptist Church.
The church has been seeking a facility large enough to handle its growing membership ever since it outgrew its old home on South Walnut street. The congregation has been meeting on an interim basis at the old Calvary United Methodist Church building at the intersection of Jackson and Walnut streets. Services will continue to be held there for the time being, Pastor Tony Godfrey noted.
?There?s a lot of work to be done,? Godfrey said. ?We still have to draw up floor plans and find out what we can use, and we haven?t even closed on the deal yet.?
A Herculean effort to convert the bowling alley into a worship center will take several months, he noted.
It may be the end of an era for the bowling community, but it?s an opportunity for a local church to continue growing.
?We?re excited that God has provided a place,? Godfrey said.
Iola?s Harvest Baptist Church has reached an agreement to buy the Country Lanes bowling alley, and will convert the building into its new worship center.
VALENTINE has had the old bowling alley on the market for several months, citing family illnesses.
?I?ll miss it, but it?s time for a new chapter,? Valentine said. In addition to running the bowling alley, Valentine also works as a carpenter.
?I?ll be able to focus more on that,? he said.
Valentine will open the doors one final time, from 1 to 5 p.m. next Saturday, to allow bowlers to retrieve their equipment.
?They may want to bowl a game or two as well, or maybe have a beverage,? he said.
He notified the organizers of the six bowling leagues who called Country Lanes home this week of the closure and pending sale.
COUNTRY LANES opened its doors Oct. 15, 1961, and was owned by Iola Bowl, Inc. Two of the consortium?s leading businessmen, Gerald Wright and Marvin Boyer, owned it until selling to John and Brenda Stoneking in 1986. The Stonekings held it for 17 years until Valentine purchased it in 2002.
?I know as much about the history of the building as anybody,? said Valentine, who has bowled at Country Lanes since he was 3, and was a league member as an 8-year-old.
?I?ve been in a league here ever since, except for one year, when I lived in Texas,? he noted.
