BATON ROUGE - Well this wasn’t the plan for the topper to this week’s column.

But after some photos popped up on Facebook Saturday, the memories of historic Circle Bowl at Florida and Airline came flooding back into everyone’s mind. 

It was March of 2021 when the bowling division of Malco Theatres decided that on April 1 of that year, operations would cease at Circle Bowl after 62 years. The pandemic, the loss of revenue from the shortened Southern Bowling Congress in 2020 and the money that was needed to make the place comfortable for its clientele, all added up to a situation that Malco couldn’t sustain.

All three local TV stations and my column space at that time, The Advocate, all covered the story extensively and everyone on social media seemed to have stories to tell.

We all seemed to be there on the final night, several of us rushing over from All Star after league, to be there to watch the Circle Industrial League roll the final games.

But since then, Circle has sat in silence for over four years. Much of the synthetic lane overlays, much of the bowling machinery has been purchased by other centers in the state.

Saturday, the pictures on Facebook cropped up showing everything being moved out of the center, the lane beds, the front desk, much of the seating area.

Sunday, Rick Bourgeois, the bowling director for the company, told me that as of Aug. 1, the building has been sold and the plan is for the new owners to convert it into a church facility.

Those pictures on the Old Images of Baton Rouge Facebook page brought back a lot of the same memories that were expressed in 2021.

By Sunday evening, there were 464 likes and 216 comments on the pictures. Pretty amazing for a place that closed four-plus years ago.

Most remembered younger days, families bowling, groups of people they hung out with, etc. It’s almost like the place closed again when people saw this.

I have my memories of Circle Bowl from my time bowling youth tournaments when I lived in Shreveport to the place I bowled at for years after I moved to this city. Fun times, good memories and we wish the new owners best of luck in their operations.

“New” River Center

I have to admit my mind has been looking at some of the reports regarding a remodeled Raising Canes River Center and I have to wonder if there will still be a facility that can hold an event like the USBC Open Championships in the future. Or could it possibly be a better host location?

The event completed its 150-day run at the end of July and last week some details began to come up. This year the entire exhibit hall was taken up by 54 bowling lanes, spectator areas and paddock and when offices, bowling brand vendors and more was added in, some 70,000-square feet of the building was used. The event, which brought some 58,000 people to town had a $125 million economic impact.

Hunden Partners, a Chicago-based firm, is advising on the project and they presented a proposal that would make the River Center into a modern event venue with a 350-room hotel. 

The number used for a “ballroom” would be 29,000 feet, including a flexible hall that could serve as a concert venue.

The word is once a developer is found, it would take about two years for the project.

I’m a little conflicted on if the optimism of the 2025 event that had people talking about 2034 for another bowling redo in Baton Rouge, might be the victim of a repurposed building that may or may not have the necessary square footage.

Not many answers are around, but I don’t know that there will be until 1) Visit Baton Rouge and the city wants to make a bid in 2034 official; and 2) what the plans will really look like when a project actually would start.

Time will tell. 

Back next Monday to preview the Labor Day Weekend Capital City Strikeout at All Star.

Until then, good luck and good bowling,

                                     Kent Lowe