Page 14 - BCM May 2024
P. 14
BUSINESS
Ed could be used as a free resource, PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS
as well as to show what the program
fully entails. While at the booth, sta
members explained the Bowler’s Ed The -lane bowling center at Suncoast, which recently hosted the USBC
Masters, will be renovated as part of a property-wide modernization
Grant program, curriculum and how to “remain relevant and fresh” in the Las Vegas market, Boyd Gaming
to order equipment. Roughly 1,700 officials have announced… Washington’s Spo-
physical curriculums were given to kane Valley is getting a new ,-square-foot
educators, along with 1,500 ash venue that will include mini-bowling, laser tag,
drives and 208 curriculum binders, an arcade, virtual reality, bumper cars and more.
which will potentially impact thou- Flight was expected to open in mid-April… A
sands of students around the country. QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup legend, Sven-Erik
Skoglund, passed away on March following
Venerable Louisville Center to an extended period of age-related poor health.
Close… But Another Will Open According to his long-time friend and fellow AMF
staffer Paul Lane, Skoglund began his career
e operators of Executive Strike & with AMF Scandinaviska in the early s and
Spare Lanes announced on Facebook continued for more than four decades. He was
that they will be closing their vener- initially responsible for sales in Scandinavia, and
able center adjacent to the Kentucky by the time he retired was the regional direc-
Exposition Center in Louisville, and tor with overall responsibility for the company’s Sven-Erik Skoglund
plan to open a 45,000-square-foot business throughout the entire Nordic Region.
venue in the J-Town neighborhood Skoglund also played a key role in the staging of the AMF Bowling World
of the city. e new venue would Cup. He managed the competitive side of the tournament and was im-
mensely popular with the bowlers, bowling officials, international bowling
include 26 lanes — half as many as at media and proprietors from around the world who attended the annual
the present location — an additional worldwide event, Lane said. Between and , Skoglund performed
eight-lane VIP suite, a full bar and res- this vital role at more than a dozen World Cup tournaments in as many
taurant, a 60-game arcade and more. countries. Skoglund spent his retirement years living on Runmarö, a small
An opening around anksgiving is island in Stockholm’s archipelago in Sweden… A group of local entre-
being targeted. e Kentucky Expo- preneurs in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, has signed to open a new Launch
sition Center and the surrounding franchise. The venue will include bowling, laser tag, an arcade and more.
area is in the midst of a $700 million A spring opening is anticipated… The LBX Collective has acquired
redevelopment project, and a bowl- Birthday University and The Experience Academy conferences, creating
an enriched portfolio of services and expertise to help elevate the enter-
ing center was not envisioned as part tainment experience.
of the long-term plan. For more than
a decade, Executive Strike & Spare
hosted Lebowski Fest, a celebration of
the 1998 Coen brothers’ movie, “ e
Big Lebowski.”
Bowling’s Long Connection to
the Francis Scott Key Bridge
When the Francis Scott Key Bridge
was destroyed on the morning of
March 26 as a runaway cargo ship
rammed into one of its support pil-
lars, the skyline of Baltimore changed
instantly and dramatically. e bridge,
which connected the city of Balti- The Francis Scott Key Bridge was an impor-
more with Baltimore County, was a tant thoroughfare for bowlers, bowling cen-
favorite route of weekend-warrior ters and bowling companies in the Baltimore
bowlers like Danny Wiseman, who area, especially during the 1970s, ’80s and
estimates he crossed it “thousands ’90s. (Photo courtesy Danny Wiseman.)
of times” as he was honing his skills
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