Village Lanes bowling alley in Monona will close on May 15.
Story And Photo Courtesy Of Caroline Dade. WKOW 27 News.
MONONA (WKOW) -- Kevin Carey started bowling at Village Lanes when he was 6 years old. Fifty-seven years later, he's now a co-owner of the bowling alley, and he's preparing to close the lanes down in May.
"It's bittersweet," he said. "We're blessed with how the customers are reacting to this. They all are sorry, yet they're very happy for us moving forward."
Carey said owning Village Lanes had been his dream since he was a child.
"When I was like 9 years old and there was only 12 lanes, I was waiting for my mom to pick me up," he said. "I actually looked around and said, 'Wouldn't this be cool if I owned this place?'"
But after a year of dealing with COVID-19 precautions, Carey said it's time to move on.
"The pandemic didn't help us," he said. "That kind of almost made our decision for us."
The bowling alley's last day is May 15, but Carey said the final tournament will be on May 8.
Preparing to say goodbye
Two of the players at that tournament will be Jeff Richgels and Marc McDowell.
The pair grew up bowling at Village Lanes and ended up playing professionally. They say the Monona business has been instrumental in their lives.
"Without this place as a kid, I just I don't know what I would have been or what I would have done," Richgels said.
That's a sentiment McDowell echoed.
"Bowling has been such a big part of my life, and this is where it all started," he said. "Our weekends were spent here, honing our skills, bowling, competing against each other, pushing each other."
The pair will be in Las Vegas the week Village Lanes closes, so they're looking at the May 8 tournament as their chance to say goodbye to the place where they hold so many fond memories.
"I'm a little concerned about how I'm going to be that night," Richgels said. "Probably very emotional and probably be very sad. I mean I almost got tears now just thinking about it."
Because the bowling alley holds so much significance in his life, Richgels said he isn't sure what life will look like after it's gone.
"I don't know that I'll ever be able to drive by here or will want to," he said. "I'm going to leave here that night that we’re here the last night and just remember what it was."
Leaving a hole in the community
McDowell says once Village Lanes is gone, Monona won't be the same.
"That old classic Cheers situation [where] everybody knows your name, I mean, this place is above and beyond that," he said. "People just came in here and felt right at home. That atmosphere is unique to what Village has created over the years. It'll be hard to replace that."
Richgels said he's talked with other professional bowlers whose home alleys have closed because of the pandemic.
"It tears the fabric out of a community in a way," he said. "Monona is going to be missing something. The east side of Madison is going to be missing something when Village Lanes is gone."
Carey said although it's hard to see the end of a community gathering space, he's grateful for impact the alley has had on so many lives.
"It's a nice warm feeling when they come in and shake your hands or give you a hug and say, 'We're gonna miss you,'" he said. "Because I know we'll miss all of our customers."
Carey said the owners will be selling the property for development, and the building will no longer be a bowling alley.
Caroline Dade
Reporter/Multimedia Journalist, 27 News