The First Duckpin Museum is in California?

A new museum featuring the history of duckpin bowling in the town recently opened in the California beach community of Santa Cruz. Yes, Santa Cruz, California.

Ironic how the California town of Santa Cruz has a duckpin museum and active duckpin areas like Maryland, Connecticut, and Rhode Island do not. How about it National Duckpin Bowling Congress?

Bowling has a long history in the Santa Cruz beach area. Santa Cruz Seaside Company archives document a 4-lane “duckpin” alley along the Boardwalk in 1909 operated by Victor A. Marini.”

Credit: Focus on Travel News

Duckpin Returns to Busch Stadium in St. Louis

Until 2008, you could find duckpin in St. Louis. Granted, it was just 2 lanes in the exhibit area of the International Bowling Hall of Fame, but they were real duckpin lanes. Then the Hall of Fame moved to Texas and they didn’t include the duckpin lanes or most of the exhibit. However, in 2013 they installed two of the Highway 66 lanes from AMF/Quibica. They routinely switch up the pins in the machines to demonstrate duckpin, rubberband duckpin, tenpin, and mini-bowling.

Fast forward to 2019 when Ballpark Village, a development launched by the Cardinals and Cordish Companies surrounding Busch Stadium, is signing new tenants to space in the latest expansion. One of those tenants will be Sports and Social St. Louis, a family friendly restaurant and entertainment destination that will feature the currently successful form of short duckpin bowling. Along with the bowling will be foosball, arcade games, ping pong, skeeball, and a live music venue. To date, 92% of the properties in the current phase II expansion have already been leased.

The 9,000 square foot Sports and Social St. Louis is expected to open its doors in Spring 2020, just as the baseball season begins.

Nashville is Next

Pins Mechanical, the wildly successful social and entertainment venture of Rise Brands, will be opening a new location at 1102 Grundy Street in Nashville in the coming months. Next door will be their 16-Bit Bar. They have not announced a specific date yet.

Plans currently call for 6 of the short-style duckpin lanes to be installed, but the building is being designed to allow expansion to as many as 12 if the popularity is there. The locations will also have arcade games, pinball machines, full bar with a large beer selection using the self-pour system, and arrangements with several food trucks which can pull-in to the location.

Williamson Source

Skyline Lanes in Duluth MN Adds Duckpin

The 50+ year old tenpin facility has recently undergone a $3Million remodel and is set to reopen in late-September. The remodel includes a reimagining of the tenpin portion of the center while adding more arcade games, a very popular virtual-reality game, and a mini-form of duckpin bowling without approaches.

It is interesting to see that a tenpin house has opted to add this to the center. Recent local press coverage described the duckpin game inaccurately, as most do. Skyline’s General Manager, Corey Kolquist, has high hopes for the new games, the duckpin addition, along with the new virtual-reality offering called Hologate. The center has also revamped their menu and expanded their bar.

Although very different from regulation duckpin, could this be the camel’s nose under the tent? The short-lane and no approach version of duckpin might be an excellent addition to an existing center. Depending on how many are installed, kids birthday parties and outings could be hosted on them, which have a significantly lower cost of operation, rather than the regulation lanes. If done right, this could present an opportunity to grow youth participation by starting young ones on them and moving them to regulation lanes as they get older.

Thanks to WDIO TV in Duluth

Duckpins and Bulls?

Bull and Bowl is a new bar and bistro opening on September 30, 2019, in downtown Austin, Tx. The location will feature a form of duckpin bowling alongside billiards and a mechanical bull. According to an article in Eater Austin, they plan two locations for the venture.

They will offer a full bar and food menu and a suite of entertainment options that also includes private karaoke rooms. Nearby businesses include Japanese restaurant TenTen and a nightclub called Mayfair.

Bull and Bowl is the brainchild and first venture of B&B Hospitality and managing partner Daniel Borelli. It is not related to New York-based B&B Hospitality Group.

Iowa-based Smash Park Announces Smash Park Social Concept, adds Duckpin Bowling to Activities

Smash Park, an entertainment venue in West Des Moines, Iowa, is moving forward with its franchising plans. At this time, the owners, Monty and Kerri Lockyear, are eyeing potential locations in Omaha, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and several Texas cities.

The owners are also looking to open a venue with a smaller footprint that is targeted more at the Millennial night crowd, potentially called Smash Park Social. These locations would include a form of duckpin bowling and be more focused on indoor games.

They are working on opening up the first of these Smash Park Social locations in downtown Des Moines, with three different spots currently under consideration. They also plan to franchise the Smash Park Social concept.

10Pins Bowling Alley in Franklin Goes with Mini-bowling Over Duckpins

Several months ago, we wrote how developed Pat Hagan was planning to bring duckpin bowling to his new project in downtown Franklin, Indiana. Since that time, Hagan opted to install six mini-bowling lanes instead.

In a recent article for The Daily Journal, Hagan explained that he didn’t want to add just another place to play duckpin bowling. Instead, he went with US Bowling’s “mini-bowling”. Overall, he mentions that the dimensions of the lanes and equipment were a better fit for the building.

We made contact with Hagan those many months ago and he was surprised to hear there was a national duckpin organization and a somewhat large member-base for duckpin bowling. He was interested in hearing more, especially of any advantages it offered. During the conversation, we offered to share his information with both the National Duckpin Bowling Congress as well as the Duckpin Bowling Proprietors Association so he could gather more information.

Unfortunately, when we recently caught up with Hagan, he said he was never contacted and selected mini-bowling. Duckpin didn’t seem to present any clear advantages and mini-bowling offered a less-expensive package. However, even he says he might have gone a different way with more information on why duckpin could have been a better choice. After all, his original inspiration was bowling duckpin at Action Bowl at Fountain Square in Indianapolis.

Hagan mentioned, “I had done that many, many times, and I had thought earlier that (Franklin) would be a really cool place to do something like that. But I’d never put much thought into it. As we were bowling this time, people kept saying that we should do something like this, and I wanted to try it.”

10Pins also features arcade games, a bar stocked with craft beer choices and wine, as well as food menu. A partnership with nearby Greek’s Pizzeria and Tapp Room has helped him to expand the menu.

Describing his business, Hagan says, “We’re a bowling facility first and foremost. I just happen to have a bar. I would rather people come in and bowl, then if they want a beer or a soda or a hot dog, we can accommodate it…”

Charlotte NC to Welcome Duckpin Back to the City

Pinhouse, a self-serve taproom offering the entertainment version of duckpin bowling is scheduled to open on this Saturday, July 27. The business has taken over the old Midwood Cleaners building in Plaza Midwood and transformed it into an adult social destination.

With 6,036 square feet across two stories, they will have self-serve 70+ taps using the iPourIt system, Pinhouse will have four duckpin lanes on the lower level. The business will not have a kitchen, but will have a food truck located on-site.

This region of North Carolina was once a duckpin powerhouse of bowlers and bowling centers. However, when the last remaining center closed in Kings Mountain, bowlers had no options left that didn’t involve hours of travel. While this is not the regulation duckpin bowling that many know and love, it might be enough to provide some satisfaction to those that have not bowled for years.

Charlotte Magazine – First Look: Pinhouse, a Self-Serve Taproom with Duckpin Bowling

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