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Kona Lanes

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Kona Lanes
245px
The KONA LANES BOWL
roadside sign in 2002
Full name Kona Lanes Bowl
Former names New Kona Lanes (1980s)
Address 2699 Harbor Blvd.
Location Costa Mesa, California, US
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owner Jack Mann Jr. (last)
Type Bowling center
Construction
Built 1958
Opened 1958
Renovated 1981
Closed 2003
Demolished 2003

Kona Lanes was a bowling center in Costa Mesa, California, from 1958 to 2003. Known for its "Space Age" design, it featured 40 wood-floor bowling lanes, a game room, a lounge, and a coffee shop (later the Island Grill and finally a Mexican diner).[1] Built during the heyday of Googie architecture, its Polynesian Tiki styling extended from the massive roadside neon sign to the building's "flamboyant neon lights and ostentatious rooflines meant to attract motorists like moths."[2]

Kona Lanes was one of the last remaining examples of the Googie style in the region; when it was demolished, only Java Lanes in Long Beach remained until it was razed in 2004.[3] Following a sale of much of the equipment, the building housing Kona Lanes was leveled while the distinctive sign was saved and sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, for inclusion in the American Sign Museum.

During public hearings on the future of the site, members of Costa Mesa's planning commission originally approved a proposal to build a department store. Following public outcry, those plans were scrapped in favor of senior apartments and commercial development.

History

Early years

Kona Lanes before (top) and after a remodel that tamed its "ostentatious" features while preserving its "fieldstone walls, large angled eaves and an inherent sense of campiness"[2]

Kona Lanes opened in 1958, featuring the Tiki-inspired signage and architecture that became popular following World War II.[4] The building on Harbor Boulevard near Adams Avenue was one of three designed and built around the same time by Powers, Daly, & DeRosa featuring the Googie style; Kona Lanes and its sister center,[5] Java Lanes, used names that suggested South Pacific island locales.[6] They were "expensive and attractive buildings that screamed, 'Have fun here'",[7] and Kona retained much of that old-time feel over the years. Its original neon-lit street sign remained for the life of the building,[8] and Kona was the only bowling establishment in the area to eschew automatic scoring equipment throughout its existence.[9]

Kona Lanes hosted the Southern California PBA Open twice, in 1964 (won by Billy Hardwick) and 1965 (won by Jerry Hale).[10] Longtime general manager Dick Stoeffler,[lower-alpha 1] known at the time as the host of TV Bowling Tournament on KTLA,[11] finished third during the televised finals in his own building in 1964, behind Hardwick and Bud Horn.[12] When Stoeffler rolled back-to-back 300 games in one league session at Kona in 1968, he was one of only four men in the country to have managed the feat.[13]

Peak years

Numerous champions bowled at Kona Lanes during its 45-year history, including John Haveles, the one-time Orange County Bowling Hall of Fame inductee who began a stint as Kona's manager in 1974;[14] two-time female Bowling Writers Association of America Bowler of the Year Aleta Sill; future Michigan Women's Bowling Association Hall-of-Famer Cora Fiebig;[15] and Barry Asher, the multiple-Professional Bowlers Association tour champion and Hall of Fame inductee who as of 2014 was running the pro shop at Fountain Bowl in nearby Fountain Valley.[16][17] Kona Lanes and Tustin Lanes hosted nearly 10,000 teams of five players each taking part in the United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships in 1986.[18]

Under Dick Stoeffler's "innovative" management, Kona Lanes kept busy 24 hours a day, making him one of the most successful proprietors in the country. Stoeffler met his future wife there,[11] and similar reminiscences were printed in local newspapers.[1][2][19][lower-alpha 2] Kona was often so busy that customers would have to make reservations to get a lane during "open" (non-league) bowling hours.[21] At its peak, Kona Lanes "was the busiest place in Orange County, averaging more than 80 lines" on each of its 40 lanes.[22][lower-alpha 3] A flier posted in the building in 1993 to promote its 35th anniversary called Kona "'the place to be' in Costa Mesa."[1]

Bowling as a participation sport flourished starting in the early 1960s,[24] but its popularity would be diluted due to overbuilding—the number of bowling alleys sanctioned by the then-American Bowling Congress peaked at about 11,000 by mid-decade,[25] and Kona was one of more than 30 in southern California alone—and to a decline in league bowling starting in the 1980s.[24][26] One AMF Bowling official argued that the customer base remained steady because an increase in open bowling made up for fewer league bowlers.[27]

File:Kona Lanes 1960s-2002.jpg
Kona Lanes: early 1960s (top) and 2002

Jack Mann bought Kona Lanes in 1980; he began a renovation that tamed some of the building's colors and features, and re-branded it New Kona Lanes the following year.[28] Mann's family owned several bowling centers in the region; he was behind the creation of Fountain Bowl in 1973 and the short-lived Regal Lanes in Orange in 1974.[9] He also owned Tustin Lanes before selling it to his youngest son, Alex.[lower-alpha 4] Mann bought Kona not because he loved bowling, but because it would continue to pay dividends "even if I were incapacitated."[lower-alpha 5] Mann would later sell Kona to his son Jack Jr.[24]

Music

The center's lounge, known as the Outrigger Room, hosted numerous local artists over the years. Jazz quintet The Redd Foxx Bbq released four songs recorded there, while Roscoe Holland recorded a set of eight live performances for his album Beyond the Reef.[30]

In later years, large portions of the bowlers' area would be taped off for rock concerts and weekend promotions like Club Crush, which proved popular among teen-agers and also led to album recordings.[31] The idea failed at least once: Kona Lanes was hit with some negative publicity when a planned event featuring a local punk rock group was shut down by the Costa Mesa Police Department.[lower-alpha 6]

Decline and demolition

The waning "nostalgic appeal" took its toll on Kona Lanes over time,[9] despite efforts to maintain relevance and to appeal to a more diverse customer base by hosting local music acts, supporting a Polynesian-themed restaurant called Kona Korral,[2] and promoting gimmicks like "nude bowling".[1] Eventually, the property became more valuable than the business.[33] The landowners, C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, gave Jack Mann Jr. a choice: spend US$10–20 million to update the center, or give it up. Mann chose the latter rather than spend such a sum on a site without a long-term lease.[2][34][lower-alpha 7]

Plans to build a Kohl's department store on the site occupied by Kona Lanes and the already-demolished Edwards Cinema Center and Ice Capades Chalet were approved by the city's planning commissioners but met with resistance by neighbors who didn't think it fit in.[9] Then-mayor Karen Robinson complained that Costa Mesa's policy-makers had "completely lost sight of play for the quality of life" of city residents, and appealed the commissioners' decision in February 2003.[36] By April, the city council had rejected the proposal.[37] Meantime, efforts to save Kona Lanes failed;[9] it closed for good in May 2003 and was leveled soon thereafter.[38]

Rezoning and new use

The 7.5 acre parcel was rezoned in 2010 for senior housing that was expected to provide a new customer base for the restaurants and retailers already in the area and for commercial developments still to come.[39] By October 2013, after the lot had sat empty behind a chain-link fence for a decade, construction on the 215-unit complex was under way;[40] Azulón at Mesa Verde opened in 2014.[41] Several dozen palm and eucalyptus trees were saved and replanted on the site.[42]

Legacy

The loss of Kona Lanes was a repeated topic at political events. One Costa Mesa city council candidate said he made a commitment to public service when the building was torn down, because he "didn't hear local officials kicking and screaming."[43] Another would-be council member agreed that "they should have never torn down the bowling alley!"[44]

Kona did see an increase in activity in its final days, due to the nostalgic value of potential keepsakes. Manager Juanita Johnson said people were asking to buy furniture, office equipment, and more. "Some of that is older than I am."[1] The more substantial items, including the "legendary" original wood lanes,[45] had been sold off prior to demolition,[2] while dumpster divers hit the parking lot each day, looking for anything of interest.[1] The occasional knickknack was still being offered for sale more than ten years later.[46]

File:Kona Lanes ASM 2014.JPG
The surviving KONA LANES section of the sign on display in the American Sign Museum in 2014

Nine years after its only remaining bowling center was leveled,[47][lower-alpha 8] Costa Mesa looked to the future: plans to upgrade the retail space known as The Triangle—bordered by Harbor Boulevard, Newport Boulevard and West 19th Street, two miles south of the Kona Lanes site—included a 10-lane bowling alley that opened in 2014,[48] answering a long-standing "outcry for an upscale bowling alley in town."[47]

Historic roadside sign

The huge, neon-lit KONA LANES BOWL sign was featured in such publications as The Book of Tiki and Tiki Road Trip.[49][50] It inspired professional paintings,[51] an unofficial T-shirt,[52] and an effort led by then-Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Katrina Foley to save it from the scrap heap.

Thanks in part to a private donation,[8] the marquee was trucked 2,500 miles to Cincinnati, one of the first 20 signs accepted by the American Sign Museum.[53] The KONA LANES portion was refurbished and is now on display; the larger BOWL section buckled and tore during the unloading process and could not be saved.[54]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ During the PBA Southern California Open finals on December 21, 1964, ABC-TV announcer Chris Schenkel referred to Stoeffler as "general manager, part-owner and resident pro."
  2. ↑ At least one wedding was performed on the approach.[20]
  3. ↑ Industry standard: a "line" is a single ten-frame game per person.[23]
  4. ↑ After 38 years in business, Tustin Lanes closed in October 2015. The Orange County Register called it "the latest victim of the shrinking bowling industry".[29]
  5. ↑ "Ironically," Mann said in 2003, "nobody in my family is a bowler."[1]
  6. ↑ U.S. Bombs' promoter said the band was being accused of promoting Nazism; a police sergeant replied that it was merely an issue of permits.[32]
  7. ↑ In a letter to the Daily Pilot thanking Kona Lanes' customers, Jack Mann Jr. wrote, "the nature of bowling and recreation in general has changed since Kona Lanes was constructed more than 40 years ago. Upgrading the existing Kona Lanes facility to modern bowling standards and current building codes would be prohibitively expensive. It would be equally costly to tear it down to build a new bowling center from scratch. No one is to blame, and it is inappropriate to target the Segerstroms, who have been excellent landlords."[35]
  8. ↑ Mesa Lanes on Superior Avenue had closed years earlier. Newspaper archives include references to Mesa Lanes since the early 1960s at least; its final filing with the California Secretary of State's Office was in May 1983. (See here and here for company data.) The exact dates of Mesa Lanes' operation are not in any public archives as of November 2015.

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
       Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
       Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Pico HRA 2013, p. 16.
  7. ↑ Hurley 2002, p. 155.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Horvitz 2002, p. 116.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Program Yearbook 2013, pp. 3, 22.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Pico HRA 2013, p. 17.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Kirsten 2000, p. 197.
  50. ↑ Teitelbaum 2007, pp. 84, 234.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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Bibliography

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cited as Pico HRA 2013
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cited as Horvitz 2002.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cited as Hurley 2002.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cited as Kirsten 2000.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cited as Teitelbaum 2007.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cited as Program Yearbook 2013.

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