Santa Fe Springs, CA - Featuring as fine a bowling alley sign as any, Premiere Lanes in Santa Fe Springs proudly showed off its googie marquee to bowlers, locals, and roadside travelers alike. From its starbursts and large "BOWL" lettering, to the colors that screamed of the late 1950's era that it was built in, Premiere Lanes has been a survivor of the oncoming Walmart's and mega strip malls. 06-10
Premiere Lanes (Closed)
Santa Fe Springs, CA Photo courtesy Sal Garcia
Check out the stars above Premiere Lanes in Santa Fe Springs. The towering marquee gave Telegraph Road a little space-age scenery, with colorful bursts surrounding enormous letters that spelled out the evening’s entertainment. Finding the bowling alley probably wasn’t much of a challenge with this one keeping watch over the corner.
The sign had quite a bit going on. Spiked stars, bold lettering, and neon all competed for attention, yet somehow belonged together. It was the sort of display that could make a passing motorist look twice, even if bowling wasn’t on the schedule. A camera might have been just as useful as a bowling ball.
Premiere Lanes marquee
Santa Fe Springs, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Opened in 1961 at Telegraph Road and Painter Avenue, Premiere Lanes belonged to an era when Southern California bowling centers gave recreation a grand roadside introduction. The buildings were often imaginative, the interiors colorful, and the signs large enough to announce a night out well before the driveway came into view.
Premiere’s marquee took that assignment seriously. The stars suggested something out of the jet age, while the huge “BOWL” letters brought the message back down to earth. There was plenty of room for futuristic scenery, but customers still needed to know where to rent their shoes.
Premiere Lanes entranceway
Santa Fe Springs, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Inside, the lanes were accompanied by a coffee shop, pro shop, and the Encore Room cocktail lounge. These were familiar ingredients of the old bowling-center outing. A few games could lead to something to eat, a stop in the lounge, or another attempt to improve a score that probably looked better before the last frame.
Over the years, Premiere became part of the local routine. League nights brought people back week after week, while casual bowlers could drop in for an evening without much planning. The place offered a setting where several generations could share the same activity, even if they disagreed about how seriously to take it.
Premiere Lanes
Santa Fe Springs, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Outside, the marquee remained the most public part of that experience. Plenty of people knew the sign who had never stepped onto a lane. It became a landmark through repeated drives along Telegraph Road, one of those roadside fixtures that seemed as though it would always be there.
Unfortunately, even a sign surrounded by stars couldn’t guarantee a happy ending.
The bowling center lost its land lease and closed on May 18, 2008. After decades of strikes, spares, and balls taking an unfortunate turn toward the gutter, the lanes went quiet. The coffee shop and lounge were no longer reasons to pull into the lot, and the big marquee stood above a business that had reached its final frame.
After sitting vacant for months, a fence sprung up on site in early 2010.
Premiere Lanes Demo June 2010
Santa Fe Springs, CA Photo courtesy Sal Garcia
The building remained vacant for about two years. In June 2010, demolition took away the bowling center, leaving the sign standing over the cleared property. That was an unusual sight in itself. The letters still offered bowling, but the place they had advertised was gone.
Finally, the bulldozers arrived in June 2010 and the walls have begun crumbling down.
Fortunately, a preservation effort rescued portions of the sign for the Valley Relics Museum. Pieces of Premiere’s enormous roadside display were saved rather than disappearing with the building. The museum eventually moved from Chatsworth to its present location at Van Nuys Airport, carrying its collection of neon and other local reminders into another setting.
The old bowling property took a different path. Retail redevelopment brought an Aldi shopping plaza to the site, changing the corner’s purpose from an evening at the lanes to a stop for groceries. Telegraph Road moved on, though the photographs preserve a considerably more flamboyant invitation to pull over.
Premiere Lanes Demo June 2010
Santa Fe Springs, CA Photo courtesy Sal Garcia
UPDATE: Good news thus far! The Premiere Lanes is still standing almost a year and a half later. However, no predictions on its near future will be made as we've all seen these bowling palaces disappear overnight. 10-05
UPDATE: Well, on May 18, 2008, Premiere Lanes closed its doors for good and losing its land lease. Many thanks to Lloyd Stone for update. 05-08
UPDATE: Premiere Lanes is now in the process of being demolished. The sign has been designated as a historical landmark. Many thanks to Alex Mochizuki and Sal Garcia for update. 06-10
UPDATE: Premiere Lanes at 13210 Telegraph Road closed on May 18, 2008, and was demolished in June 2010. The property was later redeveloped as an Aldi shopping plaza. Portions of the distinctive starburst marquee were rescued and preserved by the Valley Relics Museum, now located at Van Nuys Airport. 10-26
Premiere Lanes marquee
Premiere Lanes entranceway
Premiere Lanes
Premiere Lanes Demo June 2010
Premiere Lanes Demo June 2010
