St. Clair Lanes in St. Clairsville has been closed for little more than three weeks, shutting its doors on May 29.
Business is better than ever, so no, it wasn’t a “for good” type of closure. Gary and Rob Holubeck felt it was time the old playing surface inside the 20-lane bowling house needed replacing, so the doors were shut to allow time for remodels to take place.
“Our dad built this place in 1961 and 30 years later, we did a big reboot and added synthetic lanes atop the old maple in 1991 and added lanes 13 through 20,” said Rob Holubeck. “We decided it was time again for an update.”
Open bowling for the general public resumes Friday at noon and lane reservations are filling up fast for popular weekend evening bowling times.
League bowlers already were treated to first cracks at the freshly installed Brunswick Pro anvilane synthetic lanes, which should provide a professional-style surface for competitive and recreation bowlers to enjoy for years to come.
“I think we’re good for 20-25 years,” Holubeck said. “We’ve learned a lot over the years about what works and what doesn’t. We want to keep league bowlers happy, as well as our tournament bowlers, are open-play bowlers, and the high school bowlers, which has really taken off.
“We want to make sure it’s fun for the kids that come in and make this truly a family destination.”
Lane Improvements
Gary Holubeck admitted the former synthetic lane surface which was replaced was getting a little worn through the years, yielding minor amounts of cross tilt.
Decades of balls rolled and hammering the playing surface and the friction of the ball traveling toward the pins will do that.
These news lanes level out of the playing surface, so to speak. They also offer a more smooth approach, allowing for better sliding as the bowlers’ approach and follow through with their rolls.
And yes, the lanes glow under the black light, another added bonus as competition ceases for the night and the fun and relaxed atmosphere of open bowling kicks in for the evening.
“It really makes a great surface to bowl on,” Gary Holubeck said. “The approach is more consistent than the old ones, they didn’t slide very well.
“This is exactly the type of surface the professionals are using.”
Earlier this week, USBC Director of Center Certification Samuel Gray dropped by to use his automatic certification evaluation tool on each lane to measure the topography.
It’s a feature the bowling congress unveiled in 2022 to assist lanes in a high-tech certification process that provides a detailed readout on lane surface statistics.
Not lost in the shuffle, St. Clair Lanes is also remodeling both of its bathrooms. That’s what transpired during the few weeks of closure. That’s all for now but Gary noted there are plans coming down the road for the center.
Additional Offerings
Given the facility’s location and the grounds surrounding, the Holubecks are kind of landlocked and unable to expand the facility to provide more than 20 lanes of bowling.
But upgrades can and will be made going forward.
One area that looks to be expanded is the snack bar, along with its seating.
“We want to further expand the snack bar, update and provide more on the menu and be able to do more,” Gary said. “We’re also looking at expanding the seating.”
Holubeck noted there is a meeting room in St. Clair Lanes that doesn’t get much use as in its original intent. It’s basically a glorified storage room and that space can be repurposed to provide better amenities.
Given the number of birthday parties and events the facility hosts, expanding the kitchen’s offerings, and capabilities will go a long way to bettering those experiences. In its current setup, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with pizza for larger parties.
The expansion would solve that problem.
The flooring surface away from the bowling deck will also be replaced at some point.
