No Kona Lanes? No place to play, fans say

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Rumbling sounds of a 12-pound ball rolling fatefully

toward two handfuls of white pins, followed by the thunderous crash when

the two meet is music to some people’s ears.

Loving laughter from friends after a misguided bowling ball misses its

targets completely and rolls pitifully down the gutter is also melodious,

some say.

Soulful crooning, or lively off-tune belting, inspired by a top 40

tune and a scrolling screen of lyrics is some people’s version of a live

concert.

Those same people are the ones who are upset that Kona Lanes, a

longtime Costa Mesa bowling alley off Harbor Boulevard, is in danger of

closing.

“If they were to take out Kona Lanes, where are we, the teenagers,

supposed to go?” asked Tamarah Roach, 14. “I mean, they already took out

the theater and the ice skating rink, and now they want to take out the

bowling alley to put in a shopping center.”

The center, which houses Kona Lanes and the empty Ice Chalet building

and movie theater, will lose all three structures to make way for Kohl’s

retail store, officials said. City planners said Kohl’s representatives

have submitted an application for an 88,000-square-foot store on the

Segerstrom-owned property.

Roach, a Costa Mesa resident, said Kona Lanes was one of the last

“fun” places teenagers have to hang out. She said she fears that bored

young people will be out looking for something to do, and that what they

find may not always be constructive.

The bowling alley is not just for the young. City staff members threw

a birthday party for City Manager Allan Roeder at Kona Lanes.

“Not that I am a bowling aficionado, but it was kind of a good

marriage,” Roeder said about the party’s location. “I was turning 50, the

bowling alley has that ‘50s theme. Plus I like offbeat things.”

Roeder said he has no bias toward the proposed development at the

center but can’t help but reminisce about the good time he had at Kona

Lanes.

“I hadn’t picked up a bowling ball since high school, and I just had a

fabulous time,” Roeder said.

Family-oriented venues such as Kona Lanes are fewer and fewer in

Orange County these days, Roeder said, and he can understand people’s

disappointment in its possible demise.

“Whether you are talking about bowling alleys or date-night trips to

the drive-in movies, these are certainly something of the past, and I

think it is something people miss,” he said.

Relics of a simpler time are rare enough that entire Web sites are

devoted to landmarks such as Kona Lanes, which still touts the

mid-century architectural look. Web site Roadside Look showcases the

vintage Kona Lanes sign as one of the “googie” sites in Orange County.

The site’s creator laments that more of the tiki architecture in the

county was not preserved and boasts that “the Kona Lanes Bowl in Costa

Mesa still features its grand marquee.”

While her name does not headline on that marquee, singer Juanita

Hancock said she gets the opportunity to perform in the small-time

spotlight of karaoke twice a week at the bowling alley.

“Can we stop this landmark from being demolished? I am all choked up,”

she said.

Paul Freeman, spokesman for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, said officials

were forced to reevaluate the center’s use after both the Edwards Cinema

bankruptcy and the closure of Ice Chalet. Attempts were made to replace

the movie theater and ice skating rink -- a community fixture and

training ground for Olympic athletes for 30 years -- but no similar

tenants were found, he said.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .