birmingham bowling :: essays research papers

BIRMINGHAM roll CENTERSThe first wheel house in Birmingham is somewhat of a mystery. As happens so many times, it depends on whom you ask. Some say there was a bowling house on 1st Avenue North tightly fitting the Old Terminal Station while others say the YMCA had the first, with either both or four bowling lanes located in the YMCA building. It is agreed, however, that the first on a regular basis used bowling center was opened in 1933 and known as The Phoenix roll alley charge, located in the basement of the Phoenix structure at 1706 2nd Avenue North. It was a twelve- (12) lane house, owned and operated by Harry and Elizabeth Arnold. Its opening in 1933 coincided with the forming of the Greater Birmingham Bowling Association. First officers of the draw were V.G. Shields - President, Manual A. Ellis -Secretary, and F. J. Stanton - Treasurer, and the Executive Committee included Dr. N. C. Glass, Jr. and M. A. Moran. The Phoenix Bowling Alley remained in business until the Ph oenix Building burned down. During the 1930s and until the war, Birmingham bowling, like most activities, was centralized in the downtown area - amidst 2nd and 5th Avenues North. Bowling Houses, in addition to Phoenix - in alphabetical order - were Downtown (Birmingham) Bowling Lanes, Liberty Bowling Alley and Lucky Strike Lanes. Bowling grew in popularity after World struggle II and continued to grow through the fifties, and with this popularity, came an increase in bowling alleys Tarrant City (8 lanes), Fairfield (6 lanes), Woodlawn (8 lanes), lrondale (16 lanes), Five Points South (12 lanes), and Chapman Lanes, later to be known as LoMac Bowl (16 lanes). Chapman Lanes got its name from one of the proprietors, Ben Chapman - the great major league baseball game player from Birmingham. Marvin Lowry (Lo) and Joe McCorvey (Mac) purchased Chapman Lanes, and the name was changed to LoMac Bowl. It was not long until small 6-12 lane houses gave way to the modern automated centers. In t he late 1950s and into the 1960s, came the introduction of like a shots modern Bowling Centers.The first one to open in Birmingham was Holiday Bowl (32 lanes), followed by Bowl-O-Mac) LoMac Bowl closed and the name was reverse for the new center to read BowLoMac), Eastwood BowlRoebuck, Ensley, Homewood, Pine Bowl, Trussville (later Cahaba), Green Springs, Vestavia Lanes, wind Bowl, Honey Lanes, El Dorado (later Super Bowl) and Riverview Lanes.