Castle Lanes spruced up with Northwoods theme, nearly all the new gadgets a bowler could want
By Michael Burke
Journal Times | Posted: Monday, August 11, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - When Phil Ontko thought about the bowling industry's modern challenges, he decided he had to shake things up at Castle Lanes.
And he did. After nearly $500,000 in renovations, Castle Lanes, 5615 Castle Court, no longer looks, feels nor operates like most bowling centers. Most notably, Caste Court has a new, rustic look; state-of-the-art audio-visuals; and a mostly nonsmoking policy.
"I wanted to put some energy back into what had been, throughout its heyday, a very adult sport," said Ontko, co-owner of Castle Lanes since 1991 with his wife, Patti. "I was looking at how we could re-energize that."
What he decided upon was the atmosphere of a northern Wisconsin lodge.
"There's something about Wisconsin and up north," said Ontko, 51. "Everyone's trying to get to an environment that feels like up north. So we said, 'You know what? Let's try and do that here.' "
That was their guiding principle when they started last year, and one improvement followed another. The final result is a marked difference from most ordinary bowling alleys.
"This is not Brunswick, 'Here's your bowling center in a box,' " Ontko said.
The myriad changes at Castle Lanes have grabbed the industry's attention. Ontko said two trade magazines, Bowling Industry and Bowling Center Management, will both soon come out with feature stories about the revamped bowling alley.
A rustic look
Step into the typical bowling alley, and one's attention is usually drawn toward the action on the lanes. But enter Castle Lanes, and it's a visual feast all around. No professional designer was used for what the Ontkos have done at Castle Lanes. Rather, it was Phil's vision, and input from various friends and companies.
Ontko described his approach to finding new elements for the decor.
"A lot of these things were: If I saw it, I would know it."
On Friday morning, 12-year-old Doug Peterson was bowling. "I like that it's more like a lodge," he said about the appearance.
His grandmother, Mary Grant, said she's from Eagle River originally. "I like the rustic atmosphere," she said. "It seems more homey and calm."
Some examples of the new appearance:
* The 24-lane room is wrapped in 5,400 square feet of log siding. The log look is carried on in the benches at each bowling station and the ball racks. Ontko credited Jerry Jasperson, a renowned local bowler, who did all of the woodwork for a "friend's" price.
* The "coffee tables" at each bowling station, rear tables and rear console wall are all topped with black granite. "That started getting us over budget," Ontko said.
* The entire rear wall above the pins and spotters is one long, continuous photo mural by Sharon Molinaro, wife of local bowler Mark Molinaro. Sharon, a graphic designer and wildlife artist, took a panoramic photo in Bond Falls earlier this year. Then Michael's Signs converted that to the enormous back mural.
"It was the largest mural they have done in their history with this process," Ontko said.
* Each pair of lanes is labeled with the name of a northern Wisconsin town, ranging from Ashland to Woodruff. "We wanted to immerse you" in the north woods, Ontko said.
* The new Castle Lanes signs, designed and made by Michael's Signs of Racine, emit a warm glow and echo the north-woods theme. Each sign is front-lit with fluorescent lights and back-lit with light-emitting diodes.
* The center's approximately 550 painted ceiling tiles - each one commemorating someone's 300 game or 800 series over the years - have all been clustered above the bowling area to create a fun, colorful ceiling.
* Lots of fresh paint, courtesy of Karen Vasey, a regular bowler at the lanes.
Multimedia features
Part of the new look is a continuous bank, above the lanes, of 36 new high-definition, 42-inch television monitors. Those monitors can rotate pictures, show game scores with cartoon graphics or air any of the 10 sports TV networks that Castle Lanes subscribes to.
Another new feature are hookups for iPods and other MP3s at each bowling station. Castle Lanes supplies the cord to plug devices into, allowing each group of bowlers to listen to its own music, if desired.
"That's always been a dilemma," Ontko said. "We can play music throughout," but some people just don't want any.
And there's WiFi in case someone in the bowling group absolutely must plug in a laptop for some last-minute work during a bowling outing.
Ontko sees the iPod outlets as fostering family connectivity. "In this setting, I see the ear buds (from an iPod) coming out.
"We have kept our old demographics" while broadening the appeal to others, he said.
Other technological changes include new pin spotters and ball returns and all new bowling balls, color-coded according to weight to make the right one easy to find. Each lane now has a speedometer that tells the speed of each throw. That can help a good bowler analyze what he or she is doing, said Ontko - a Racine Bowling Hall of Fame member who carries a 235 average.
The overhaul was also a chance to get rid of all traditional light bulbs and replace them with low-wattage and fluorescent lighting, Ontko said.
Nonsmoking
The conversion of Castle Lanes included a shift toward a mostly nonsmoking atmosphere. Ontko said, "There are people who tolerate (smoking). But … a lot of people will not come in because of that."
Rather than risk alienating their loyal league bowlers, the owners allow the smoking decision to be made by each of their leagues. The two Tuesday night leagues, for example, voted to banish smokers to the bar area when they need to take a puff. The Thursday and Friday night leagues voted to keep smoking, but it will happen only in two designed areas, beneath air-return vents that will pull out smoke. "It won't be down in the bowling area," Ontko said.
For open bowling, "It's a no-brainer" to prohibit smoking, as well as for parties, he added.
Asked about the reaction from previous customers, Ontko said, "We've had a couple of grumbles, but most people understand."
Overall, he said, the response has been "overwhelmingly" favorable.
"A lot of this stuff is unique to us," Ontko said.
Florence Strawbe of Yorkville, bowling in a senior league Friday morning, said about the new look, "It's nice and clean and pretty in here. I like the photos of the Northwoods."
She added though, "I don't bowl any better."