So we're hoping to hear from the chain that owns the center sometime next week if they have indeed come to an agreement on the lease of the building. I'm a firm believer in a free market economy, and the gentleman that owns the land has every right to get every single dollar for his property and the corporation has the right to sign, negotiate for a lower price, or walk away. However, I hope that all bowling centers do not go the way of the drive-in movies in the Valley, because if I ever want Zoe to see a movie from the trunk of an SUV, we have to drive all the way to Riverside or San Bernardino County. The land is just so valuable I think people in other parts of the country get sticker shock when they see what the building is potentially worth. I can't picture Southern California without a bowling center, nor picture my life without all the people who've touched me during my time as a bowler.
After over a year in limbo, the bowlers are starting to really get tired. And frankly, I'm exhausted. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't ask me if I know the building is up for lease (yes, that's true), that the center is going to close (we don't know that and I don't believe that that will happen), and a variety of other questions that I try to answer without sounding like a Stepford wife, or worse, an idiot. Every odd thing that happens can be the "sign" that someone was looking for to prove their case that the lease won't be signed and we'll be "homeless" or the sign that the corporation will sign the lease and we'll continue as usual.
The longer it takes, though, the harder it is not to at least try to wrap my mind around the saddest outcome--the closure of another center. I don't think I ever got over Conejo's closure. There were people there that were important to me that I've never seen again. Some have even passed away.
Regardless of what happens next week, next month, and in the next year, my kids won't stop bowling, and I can hope most of the families will continue to bowl somewhere--where ever I settle or at another center. That's all I really ever wanted--to teach people about a sport I love and let them enjoy it from nearly cradle to grave.
Gotta split,
Ang
Posted by Angel Zobel-Rodriguez at October 26, 2006 07:17 PMAngel,
I feel for your situation. After two years of rumors as to whether our center would be sold to condo developers, we finally were given our notice one month prior to the center closing in May.
Like you, we have nurtured over 150 youth bowlers each and every Saturday morning for over 8 years and it hit deep in our hearts that we would lose our "home." We are now working out of another center about 10 miles away, although not in the same capacity. Another small afternoon league invited our group of coaches and bowlers to join them, and although a lot of the kids are still bowling, many did not return. It simply breaks my heart.
But we're the type of coaches/parents that will take our own kids wherever they need to go to bowl. The kids are sad too, but we are hoping that "this too shall pass." I'm a firm believer in the fact that things happen for a reason. And although I may not see or realize it now, it will come to fruition. I enjoy your comments on bowl.com and your writings here. With people like you, we're sure to keep the sport of bowling from dying like the drive-ins you mentioned. I wish you all the best, and hang in there!
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea at November 2, 2006 12:32 PM