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The Kona Lanes bowling alley in Costa Mesa has long
been an Orange County landmark. Since 1958, Unfortunately, Kona Lanes shut its doors down for good in late May, 2003 and demolition on the building is nearly complete. It's interesting to see how quickly the building has been leveled.
Kona Lanes Marquee today For more photos and info on what had been happening with this ten pin alley, see Preservation Alley.
Below is an interesting recollection of the events at the Kona Lanes the last night prior to demolition day. Many thanks to P. Caldwell for contributing both the summary of the evening and the photos.
The additional thirty-day promised extension for vacating, had been suddenly
(last minute abrupt without any explanations) withdrawn. Everyone quite
unexpectedly had to do a whole lot of major The man with the clock is the last owner. At that moment he was enjoying
a pleasant victory amidst an unpleasant experience. If I remember
the story correctly: His father was the original architect/builder,
who then purchased the lanes himself a few years later. Was so fond of
them, he bought them back from his earlier clients when they decided to
sell.
Home | Search | What's New | Contact Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Page Last Updated June 9, 2004
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Kona Lanes 
has been home to bowlers and families seeking a fun place to
hang out.
By
coincidence, I happened to be at Kona Lanes late its very last night before
demolition. Below are a couple photos as the owner (and a few friends)
feverishly scrambled to put things in order before wrecking crews arrived
the following morning.
scrambling,
to clear out a huge furnished stocked building in only two short days.
Needless to say, it was a mess.
Dad
owned it for some years, and then his son (pictured) later took possession
for their last and final decade. Consequently, his own history and connection
to Kona actually spanned his entire life. That clock face in his hands
had been securely embedded into the center back wall, above all lanes
since opening day. It was the one thing he wanted to personally retrieve
as a memento for himself. However, there were problems. It was built
into the wall, and that other clock was ticking. We eventually figured
a way to get it dislodged, without completely destroying it in the process.
Making this particular singular moment, probably the only happy high point
of the entire and rather sad event.
