Beverly Bowl (Removed)
Montebello, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Beverly Bowl used to be a great place for a few games of ten
pin bowling or play video arcade game and shoot pool at night. Its immense
neon sign no longer lights up the sky.
UPDATE : The marquee was removed. Another AMF owned bowling center has lost its unique marquee.
Garden Square Bowl (Demolished)
Garden Grove, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
Check out the oversized pin and bowling ball at Garden Square Bowl's in Garden Grove. Even the finger holes received the neon treatment, leaving little doubt about what awaited inside. This was a sign that could advertise a night at the lanes without making passing motorists read very much.
The marquee gave Garden Grove Boulevard a little extra character. Bowling alleys often put as much personality into their roadside signs as their buildings, and this one made good use of the familiar equipment. An ordinary bowling ball became something worth stopping to photograph.
Unfortunately, the photograph now captures a vanished piece of the boulevard. The lanes and their enormous sign are gone, leaving memories of league nights and a roadside attraction that once stood well above the traffic.
UPDATE: Garden Square Bowl was demolished and replaced by a commercial shopping center. The large neon pin-and-ball marquee no longer stands. 10-26
Champion Lanes (Demolished)
Garden Grove Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
Over at Champion Lanes in Garden Grove, the marquee gave the word “BOWL” plenty of room to show off. The separate outlined sections and playful lettering turned a simple direction into a roadside display with a personality all its own.
Located almost across Garden Grove Boulevard from Garden Square Bowl, Champion added another eye-catching bowling sign to the neighborhood. These were places where the evening’s entertainment started at the curb, before anyone picked up rental shoes or checked the score.
The mid-century look continued indoors, with stone walls and brightly colored light fixtures remembered by former bowlers. Together with the equipment and roadside lettering, the setting carried the atmosphere of an earlier bowling era well into its later years.
UPDATE : This is the sign from the Champion Lanes, which was almost right across the street from Garden Square Bowl. I bowled league there for many years. The decor inside was a perfect example of googie. From the stone walls, brightly colored light fixtures, and bowling equipment original to it's opening in the early 60's, it was definitely a trip back in time. It closed it's doors for good in the early 90's. Many thanks to Jay Hunnemeyer for putting a name to the "mystery bowl" and for information update. 03-06
UPDATE: Champion Lanes was demolished in 2003. The photograph preserves the distinctive marquee that once advertised bowling along Garden Grove Boulevard. 10-26
Covina Lanes (Closed)
West Covina, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
The Covina Bowl and West Covina
Lanes were built around the same time in the 50s. The Covina Bowl was
originally built with an Egyptian theme, which explains the pyramid-like
shape of the front and the names of the banquet rooms inside (Pyramid
Room and Egyptian Room being among the largest). Many thanks to Leo Guiala, former Assistant Manager
of the Covina Bowl for above info.
Check out the towering marquee at Covina Bowl in Covina. The lettering and angular framework make quite an introduction to the building below, where a dramatic A-frame entrance gives an ordinary bowling outing a little space-age scenery.
Opened in 1956, the bowling center was designed by Powers, Daly & DeRosa, an architectural firm known for giving Southern California bowling alleys plenty of personality. Stone walls, folded rooflines, and the pyramid-like entrance made this a place worth noticing before anyone stepped up to a lane.
There was more here than bowling. Dining areas, cocktail lounges, and a nursery helped make the center a destination for an entire evening. The building belonged to a time when bowling alleys dressed up for the occasion, with architecture and neon doing their part to bring customers through the doors.
Covina Bowl
West Covina, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
After the lanes closed in March 2017, the future looked uncertain. Fortunately, redevelopment kept important pieces of the old landmark. The entrance, portions of the historic building, and the familiar roadside sign were restored as a new townhome community took shape around them.
UPDATE: Covina Bowl no longer operates as a bowling alley, but its restored marquee and surviving architectural features remain at 1060 West San Bernardino Road. The old landmark has found another chapter, even if the sound of falling pins is now a memory. 10-26
Corbin Bowl Tarzana, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
Along busy Ventura Boulevard, Corbin Bowl gives passing traffic something more interesting to look at than another row of storefronts. The neon lettering rises above the street, announcing a place where the action involves ten pins and a considerably shorter stretch of pavement.
Opened in 1959, the Tarzana bowling center belongs to the era when a trip to the lanes could fill an entire evening. Its original offerings included a coffee shop, cocktail lounge, billiards room, and children’s nursery, giving families and regular bowlers plenty of reasons to stay awhile.
The marquee is a big part of that appeal. Seen after dark, the lettering gives the boulevard a familiar bowling-night glow. There’s something fitting about a sign that makes the destination easy to spot while the traffic keeps rolling past.
Corbin Bowl also weathered a serious interruption after the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the building. The lanes eventually reopened, allowing another generation to discover the place behind the sign.
UPDATE: Corbin Bowl continues operating at 19616 Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana, carrying its bowling tradition into another decade. 10-26
Champion Lanes (Demolished)
