BOWLADROME: LESLIEJAWORSKI
S
-
usedtobenobigdeal inSt.Louis.
“WhenIwasakid,”saysJimBar-
ton,ownerofSaratogaLanes,which
was founded in 1916, “therewereaboutfive
of them.”
No longer.Located inMaplewood,oneof
dozensofmunicipalities that ringSt. Louis
proper, SaratogaLanes, theoldest bowling
alley in themetropolitanarea, nowboasts
theonly lanes in the region that areon the
secondfloorofabuilding.
Unlikemany alleys built in theWorld
War I era as adjuncts to saloons, Saratoga
wasconceivedasabowlingalleyfirst,which
mayhavehelped it surviveProhibition, ac-
cording to a successful 2008 application
for theNationalRegisterofHistoricPlaces.
Womenwerewelcomed,withmixed leagues
startinghere as early as 1933, 20 years be-
fore itbecamecommon formenandwomen
to bowl together
in leagueplay. The
region’s top teams
competed in tour-
naments at Sara-
toga, and the eight
lanes,wornout,werereplacedinthe1940s.A
fewyearsago,ratherthanreplacethemagain,
Barton covered the laneswith a synthetic
protectiveproduct thatwill allow thewood
thatshowsthroughto last forever.
Theeventual introductionof automatic
pinsetters spelled the endofmany second-
floor alleys inbuildings that couldn’t take
theweight. But not SaratogaLanes, where
pinsetterswere added in themid-1950s as
part of a remodeling that helped the alley
survive competition from larger suburban
bowlingcentersthatwerespringingup.
Thepool room features regulation-size
Brunswicktablesfromthe1940s.The31-star
flagon thewall isareplicaofa19th-century
model, and the
national anthem
is played before
league play begins
— a tradition that
datesbackadecade.
Bartonremodeled theplace threeyearsago,
but youwouldn’t know it.He sayshepaida
premium fornew carpet andwall paneling
that intentionally looks dated. Automatic
scoringequipmentwasneverconsidered.
“We redid everything,” says Barton, a
bowling liferwho startedout cleaningash-
traysinanalleywhenhewasateenager.“We
made it look like it’s 1958.Wedidn’twant
tochangewhatSaratogaLanes looked like.”
Privateparties area lifebloodhere; Bar-
tonsaysheholdsasmanyas400inayear.He
hasopenedtwoothereight-lanealleys—one
inSt.Louisandanother inDavenport, Iowa
—sinceacquiringSaratogaLanes in1989.He
doesn’tplanongoinganywhere, andhehas
no interest inrunninganythingbiggerthan
12 lanes.
“WhatI’mopeningupisnotjustabowling
alley,”Barton says. “I’mopeningup enter-
tainment centers that havebowling alleys
inthem.”
SARATOGA LANES
2725SUTTONBLVD.,MAPLEWOOD,MO.
•
(314)645-5308
•
Backintheday,bowlingwasbig.
AfterWorldWar II, theadventof automaticpinsetters spurred
abuildingboom inbowlingalleys;HarryTrumaneven installed
lanesintheWhiteHouse.Bowlingwasasmuchaspectatorsport
asapastime,with televisedbig-money tournamentsand shows
like
JackpotBowling
,which featuredstarssuchasMiltonBerle,
frequentlygracing theairwaves.And theMidwest—whereDe-
troit still leads thenation in thenumberof leaguebowlers reg-
isteredwith theUnitedStatesBowlingCongress—has been
the longtime epicenter. Like on theSouthSide of Chicago,
whereeveryyear since 1921, thePetersenClassic tournament
has luredbowlers fromall over theworld.Theoriginal host al-
ley, Archer-35thRecreation, had infamously tough lanes that
madebreaking200as toughasbatting .400.But it succumbed
toa leaky roof in 1993, atwhich time the tournamentwas relo-
catedtoasuburbanChicagobowlingcenter. OrinSt.Louis,the
homeof theHermannUndertakers, afive-man squad that set a
teamscoringrecord in1937 that stood for21yearsbefore itwas
brokenbyanotherSt.Louis team, theBudweisers, in 1958—on
the same lanes (sevenandeight) at the sameSt. Louisbowling
alley,FlorissLanes,where theUndertakersmadehistory.The
Budweiser record stood fornearly36years.ButFlorissLanes,
onceahavenforbowlers,closedlongago. Thankfully,notevery
ten-pingemhasmet the same fate. There remain somealleys
acrosstheMidwestwherethesport isgloriouslystuck intime.
“Wemade it look
like it’s1958.Wedidn’twant
tochangewhat
SaratogaLanes looked like.”
56
APRIL 15, 2012
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
