Page 14 - BCM June 2024

BUSINESS

Seeking ‘Normalcy’ in Maine

hings will never be “the same”
T at Just-In-Time Recreation in
Lewiston, Maine. ey probably
never again will be “normal,” either
— whatever “normal” means. One of
two sites (the other being the nearby
Schemengees Bar & Grille Restau-
rant) of the 10th-deadliest mass
shooting in U.S. history last Oct. 25
remained closed for more than six
months.
As one might imagine, it took a
while for owners Justin and Saman-
tha Juray to process what had hap-
pened at the bowling center they’d
purchased barely two years earlier.
e rst thing they had to do was
decide that they wanted to reopen
— something that the owner of
Schemengees has said she won’t do. The nishing touches are put
Once that decision was made, the on a bowling pin memorial
couple got to work on refurbishing honoring those who perished
the facility to erase as many memo- in last October’s mass shooting
ries as possible of the night that had in Lewiston, Maine. One of the
left 18 people dead. two businesses targeted by the
shooter, Just-In-Time Recreation,
e Jurays had emptied their sav- reopened on May 3.
ings account to purchase the center,
but surviving a mass shooting and
then dealing with its aftermath had support their decision, no matter community stepped up to provide a
not been part of the business plan. what it was — including the option new scoring system, as well as new
Justin, in particular, found it di cult to simply walk away without pen- gutters, bumpers and other capital
to even walk inside the center. But alty. When they decided they wanted equipment.
within several weeks of the shooting, to reopen, the landlord told them to As May approached, the Jurays
the couple decided to keep the busi- order new oors and o ered to front were ready to reopen. ey began
ness going — for themselves, but the money for the cost. by welcoming relatives of some of
primarily for the community. Re- e damage — beyond the loss the people who had lost their lives.
opening meant that the venue would of human life — that the shooter en came a soft reopening with
be a place where people could “still caused was extensive. In addition to members of the ursday night
make memories,” as Samantha put new oors, the center needed new league that had been bowling when
it. e kind of memories that bowl- carpet, new paint and a new recep- the shooter entered the building.
ing normally provides. tion counter. e center is a New Finally, on May 3, it was time for the
e Jurays would have liked to England-style “split house,” with o cial grand reopening — an event
have moved faster, but their insur- six candlepin lanes and 22 tenpin lled with speeches (including one
ance was slow to kick in. Fortunate- lanes, and three of the tenpin lanes’ by Maine Governor Janet Mills), a
ly, their landlord, with whom they’d pinsetting machines had been hit ribbon cutting, food trucks, and lots
signed a 10-year lease, said he’d by bullets. Ultimately, the bowling of hugs and tears.

12 • BCM • JUNE 2024 www.bcmmag.com

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