Michael Litowski bowling at Lincoln Lanes Bowling Centre. (Liam Verster/Vernon Matters Staff)

By Liam Verster

Lincoln Lanes

City not purchasing bowling alley

Aug 15, 2023 | 11:56 AM

The local bowling alley did not earn a strike in its ask to be enveloped in Vernon Recreation Services.

A declassified motion from the Monday, August 14 Committee of the Whole meeting stated Vernon city council would “not pursue the purchase of Lincoln Lanes Bowling Centre as it is not a recreation service contemplated in the Recreation Master Plan.”

There was discussion on the bowling facility during the regular meeting after the matter was declassified.

Following Monday’s meeting, Mayor Victor Cumming reaffirmed council’s stance in an interview with Vernon Matters.

“It’s not part of our Rec Master Plan to get into bowling, so that’s the way it is. I encourage them to reflect on that,” Cumming said.

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“The community really enjoys the bowling alley. It’s a very popular thing to do. I know it, I do it once in a while with my family. It’s a wonderful thing and I hope they can find someway of continuing to have bowling in Vernon.”

Cumming added it is now up to Lincoln Lanes’s owners to come up with a plan for the future of the bowling centre, be it applying for a rezoning of the property so the facility can be improved or expanded, or selling to a private party who could build housing as per the current land designation.

An online petition was launched in June to have the city purchase and preserve the bowling alley on 25th Avenue, as the owners, the Whiffen family, were trying to sell but were having trouble finding someone who wished to continue to operate the alley as is.

A delegation was presented to council in July to have the city purchase the business, which was listed at $1.9-million, and incorporate it into Vernon Recreation Services, and council tasked staff with investigating the request.