“It’s unfortunate, it stinks, but people get older and want to move on.2009 “Rock & Roll” Bowling Wrapup Nearly 200 people had great fun bowling, sharing refreshments and socializing at the Rock ‘n “Frustrated” by negative comments some customers have made, Zeitz defended the owners, who, he said, “treated all the employees like family members” and “always cared about the bowlers and the community, making donations” for community events. “Some have been bowling here for 30 years, some longer. “People are upset it’s more the customers. It’s not something anybody wanted,” Zeitz said of the sale. “We were able to move about half the leagues” to the Thunderbird Lanes in Warminster, where the owners have a 99-year lease, he said.īowling teams from Upper Moreland, Hatboro-Horsham, Upper Dublin, Abington and Jenkintown high schools, as well as a Saturday kids program, will go to the Warminster location as well, Zeitz said. If all goes according to plan, “optimistically,” the collision center would be open for business by the end of the year, he said.Ībout 30 leagues, comprising about 1,200 bowlers, bowl at the 32-lane center, Zeitz said. Insurance companies require special welding and paint equipment and want to do business with shops that can do repairs quickly, Kennedy said. Kennedy Ford has a large collision center in Conshohocken, and this would be a second facility, employing an estimated 30 to 40 workers, he said. Zoning approval is needed the company will apply for a special exception for the use, he said. “We intend to make the building look spectacular,” Kennedy said. The auto dealership plans to renovate the one-story structure to build a state-of-the-art collision center on the 2.5-acre property, he said. Michael Kennedy of John Kennedy Ford said April 1 he expected settlement on the property within 30 days. “Making that investment at 76 is not there.” It was doing a good business, but “to take it to the next level would have to invest a lot of money,” Zeitz said. The bowling alley, which has a bar, snack bar and small video game center, is open seven days a week, 9 a.m.
A lot of customers “are upset with the closing,” he said. Standing behind the snack bar, Mark Lynch, who has been working at Thunderbird part-time for more than three years and lives nearby, said the bowling alley “is an easy place to meet up” with friends. Zeitz’s uncle once owned five bowling alleys, including a minority interest in the Willow Grove Thunderbird, which his aunt still holds, he said, adding closing the bowling alley was “not what she wanted.” “The land is worth a lot more,” and the owners have an agreement of sale with John Kennedy Ford, which plans to turn the bowling alley into a collision center, said Zeitz, who has no ownership interest in the Willow Grove lanes, but owns two Thunderbird bowling alleys in Philadelphia, which he bought from his late uncle. “It was offered to other properties, but no one else was interested in buying it as a bowling center.
“The owners are in their 70s and looking to retire,” he said. The bowling alley, opened more than 50 years ago, became Thunderbird Lanes after being purchased by the current owners in 1985, Zeitz said during a lull in the action March 30. The bowling center at 1130 York Road will close to the public May 1, with leagues wrapping up May 16, according to David Zeitz, CEO for the Willow Grove Thunderbird who has been overseeing operations for seven years. UPPER MORELAND > The sweet sound of a bowling ball striking pins at the Thunderbird Lanes in Willow Grove will soon cease.
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