Pictured Above: A lane tech from Gary Mack Lane Service, Preps AMF 82/70 For Service.
A New Bowling Center To Open Soon In Phoenix, At the Scottsdale 101 Shopping Center.
Construction Has Been Going On At The New Center Since November 13, 2017.
By Michael 'Chip' Begg - Managing Editor - thetenpinexpress.com - Director Mesa Metro Association.
Phoenix - - - Every time we hear of a bowling center that closes down. It is a sad day for the game itself, and a sad day for the community it served. Especially, if its been part of a community for a very long time. But, for every center that has closed in recent years. It is nice to know that bowling still thrives in certain markets in the United States. Phoenix, AZ., is one of those markets where bowling still thrives.
So, that brings us to the next point of this story. If you have been in the Scottsdale 101 Shopping Center lately, you may have noticed a lot of construction activity going on in the complex. And in particular, Building #19, which sits in the west part of the complex. It has been rumored for a while now, that a new bowling center may have been coming to this area. And, the tenpinexpress.com is happy to confirm it is not a rumor, but a fact.
A.R. Mays Construction of Scottsdale, which is the general contractor for the project, started the construction work on the site on November 13, 2017. The 33,000 square foot structure located at 7000 East Mayo Blvd. in Phoenix, used to house a furniture store.
"We had to completely gut the building (removed all the walls, ceilings, and flooring) to get the interior of the building back to its original shell," explained Sr. Project Superintendent, Albert Erickson, of A.R. Mays. "My main responsibility at a job site, is to keep a safe and productive job site while maintaining the construction schedule. Manpower from sub contractors is always the biggest challenge."
As you can imagine, for a construction project this size, a lot of construction material is needed to get the job done. So far A.R. Mays has brought in roughly 10 pallets of trusses to reinforce the stability of the structure. And six to eight pallets of 2X4's and 2X6's, so the lane installer has enough lumber on hand to build a support structure underneath the lane beds. All 36 of them.
"I am a believer in Jesus Christ, so the satisfaction of a job well done, comes from his blessings. Because I don't think I could conquer anything without him," said Mr. Erickson, of where he gets his drive and ambition from. "I got into construction at the age of 17, because I didn't want to go to school anymore. I got connected to my mentor a few years later, and was pushed up the ladder very fast."
A.R. Mays is hoping to turn the building back over to Bowlero by March 29, 2018. But, it is expected that the bowling center itself won't open until mid-April.
From One Bowling Center To Another One.
The equipment that will be housed in the new bowling center came from a Bowlero bowling center that recently closed in Portland, OR. AMF 82-70 pinsetters will be installed in the pit area. As you can imagine also, it must have been quite a job to ship the: pinsetters, ball returns, and lanes to its new location.
According to Gary Mack, of Mack Lane Service, it took five semis to get the equipment from Portland to Phoenix. And six more: for the new lanes, foundation, gutters, and bumpers.
His company, which is based out of Depere, WI., main job is to. Dismantle the equipment from the old center, and reinstall it in the new one. It took his company three weeks to dismantle the bowling center in Portland.
"The equipment came from a 36-lane Bowlero bowling center in Portland, and we moved everything out of the old bowling center in three weeks," explained Gary, of his job at hand. "In Portland, we dismantled the equipment down to the cement floor. Here, we started to reassemble it from the cement floor."
Gary has been working around pinsetters since he was 14. He attended the AMF 82-70 pinsetter school in Shelby, OH., in 1971, and became a certified pinsetter mechanic after attending the three week session. AMF had its school in Shelby, OH. And Brunswick had a similar school in Muskegon, MI. Neither AMF nor Brunswick have their pinsetter schools anymore, since all of the training is basically done in house.
"I thought it was kind of neat seeing a small town like Shelby," he said, of the adventure. "I learned a lot about the electrical aspects of the 82-70."
He says there is still a need, for skilled pinsetter mechanics. But, while AMF and Brunswick's original pinsetter schools don't exist anymore. There is one in Minnesota, called Stahl's 70s, that does. Two classes are offered at this school during the middle and the end of July. Cost for the school is between $500 and $600 for the session. He is one of the two instructors at the school.
"It's a one week school," he says, of the class he teaches. "As a teacher, I deal with all types of skill levels. For me, its a lot of fun teaching people who want to learn."
Meanwhile, back in Phoenix, he has two crews that do the lane installation work. A lane crew, and a machine/automatic scoring crew. Typically each crew has four guys assigned to it. He estimates that it takes about 20 man hours to reinstall a pinsetter, and he and his crew can remove 24 in four days. On average it takes about five hours to remove a pinsetter.
"We do approximately 25 jobs a year," he says, of his lane service. "Three to four guys would be working in a new center like this one. Some jobs are lane and bumper replacement, and some are pinsetter and automatic scoring replacements. The pinsetters that came from Portland were in pretty good shape. Bowlero will bring a crew in to go through them again before the center opens in mid-April."
His lane installation service has taken him all over the world. He can vividly remember a trip to India, where he installed the first three automatic pinsetter, centers, in that country.
"The one center I installed was in the basement of a hotel," he says, of his experience in India. "I was the first one who was asked by the hotel in India to do this. I was also asked to stay in the country by the hotel over the XMAS holiday that year, to make sure things ran smoothly. I will always remember that. Lanes are installed in India, as they are in the states. Even in India, bowling centers are sanctioned by the USBC."
Like Albert Erickson, he too, gets a lot of satisfaction from a job well done.
"Its still amazing how we can transform and building with a cement slab, into a working bowling center. People are amazed as to how much lumber is underneath a bowling center," he says, of the projects he completes. "Typically, we are very busy 9-10 months a year. Nov-Jan can be slow. This past year we have had no slow time at all. The economy being as good as it has, has helped. Apparently, we must do pretty good work, or we wouldn't be busy. Our schedule has us almost booked up into October already."
When he is not involved in installing a new bowling center. Gary is still involved in bowling, as the proprietor of Classic Lanes Fox Valley, a 36-lane center in Neenah, WI. His center is located about 30 miles south of Green Bay.
"We bought a bowling center that was a disaster. We are probably 75 percent done remodeling our center," he says, of becoming a proprietor. "Plus, we are in a good location, and we have great potential to increase business. Owning a center gives me a good understanding what other proprietors are going through, when we upgrade their bowling centers. Because I visit so many centers each year, I get a lot of new ideas that I can bring back to my center, and tell my employees I came up with them (but they know better than to believe that)."
But, where does he want his center to be, say five years from now?
"Five years from now, I hope to be taking more time off, but still doing both jobs," he says, of his future goals. "I am very fortunate to have some really good key people in both businesses who hopefully, will take over for me in the future (that is as long as they keep up our good reputation for good service and workmanship)."
His center is currently hosting the Wisconsin Men's State Tournament. During the 17 week run, 2000 teams and 10,000 bowlers will test their skills at this center.
"A lot of planning is involved to make sure things go well," he said, of hosting a state tournament. "But, at the same time, its nice to show off your center to other bowlers. This is a great opportunity for us to look good in front of our peers."
Another key to becoming a successful proprietor, is having a good working relationship with the state and local USBC boards.
"Since all of our lane work is inspected by the local USBC, we need to have a good working relationship with them," he says, of working with the USBC. "Every successful bowling center I have ever been in, has had a very good working relationship with the bowling association. We work closely with our local and state associations, to help build bowling."
Gary's best year as a bowler was in 1990, when he averaged 213 and rolled three perfect games in his career.
The lane bed support structure is built 16 inches off of the shell, so the ball will not have an issue traveling back on the underground ball return.
When a playing surface is installed, the foundation is installed and leveled to within approximately 1/8". Underlayment is installed and leveled to within USBC specifications. If everything is done properly up to this point, the lane panels shouldn't need any shims, or very minimal shimming.
The tenpinexpress.com reached out to Bowlero for comment on the new center being installed, but have not heard back from anyone.
Phoenix Bowling News - March 8, 2018