Residents not bowled over by decision

I have lived in Costa Mesa for the majority of my life and have been

a Mesa Verde resident for a long time, and the idea of bringing in a

Kohl’s department store is absolutely ridiculous. Let’s get this

right, Planning Commission and City Council, and let’s put in some

good family entertainment with some good restaurants and upgrade the

bowling alley and put something in that the whole community can enjoy

as opposed to another retail outlet.

Come on people, let’s get it right

GREG SPICER

Costa Mesa

I have lived in Mesa Verde for the last 19 years and I think it is

such a terrible idea. We absolutely do not need another department

store, and when we moved here 19 years ago, our whole family used

that entertainment center all the time: the ice skating, the movies

and the bowling. It was so nice that the kids could just walk over

there and have all this entertainment. There isn’t any entertainment

within walking distance in this neighborhood. We have to drive

everywhere, and the nearest nice bowling area is Fountain Valley or

Mission Viejo.

It would be really wonderful if the Segerstrom group would give us

a new entertainment center there. The ice skating would have been

popular if they hadn’t let the place get run down. And same with the

movie theaters and now the bowling alley. It is not that people do

not want to be entertained, they just want it in better condition. So

I really hope we don’t get another department store

CHARMAINE LAURIE

Mesa Verde

This situation is upsetting to me. Why can’t a city the size and

location of Costa Mesa agree to modernize the Kona Lanes and ice rink

and gives the kids [and adults] a place to go for recreation?

I don’t think we need any more retail space. There is enough

already, and with the state of the economy being as it is, many

retailers as well as other businesses are finding a tough go of it.

For a city that advertises itself as that of the arts, it seems

sad to even consider taking away a part of old-time America and a

recreation place for families to go to. I am adamantly opposed to the

Kohl project. The song says it all: “They paved paradise and put up a

parking lot.”

RALPH ROLLINS

Costa Mesa

I am in support of keeping Kona Lanes. It has been here for very

many years, and we need more family-oriented places to bring our

children and be able to do family things. I think we have enough

retail stores in the area and I think we need to concentrate on our

kids and things we can do with our children and where children can go

to keep them off the streets.

I think that the owners of the property should give Kona Lanes a

long lease so that they could also refurbish the lanes and the

exterior of the building to make it more updated, which would

therefore bring in a lot more people.

PAMELA WIENER

Costa Mesa

I believe that Costa Mesa should not go by the way that Los

Angeles, the Valley and other places that only concern themselves

with growth, development, that silver dime. Stores that are not

needed are brought in while historical places or businesses such as

Kona Lanes are torn down.

There should be some compromise, at worst, to keep Kona Lanes

there, and I believe redevelopment of that area should include what

was there: another ice rink, another theater complex or maybe even a

small playhouse.

THAD SOLLOWAY

Costa Mesa

Please preserve the Kona Lanes as it is now. Maybe a little

face-lift, but keep its character.

GEORGE QUEZADA

Costa Mesa

Please leave Kona Lanes as is -- we don’t need a store there.

LORI JARVIS

Newport Beach

Since moving to Costa Mesa in 2001, I have been an active bowler

at Kona Lanes and look forward to my Thursday night league. Despite

its current state of repair, Kona presents a unique social gathering

place in Costa Mesa -- it is virtually the only place left that is

not a bar, restaurant or retail outlet. It attracts a wide

demographic, from seniors to UC Irvine students, and is very popular

with children’s birthday parties, etc.

While it is indeed sad that the cinema and the ice rink are

closed, with a corresponding painful lack of income for the owners,

do we really need yet another retail outlet in Costa Mesa?

Personally, I think not.

So, to answer the question you posed in the newspaper, what should

be done with Kona Lanes? My ideal solution would be to refurbish the

property while retaining most of the historical aspects of the lanes,

for example, the unique roadside sign and the wood lanes. I noticed

that Kona recently advertised itself as “retro bowling,” and that

environment should be preserved. However, the retro leaking roof,

retro men’s room, and retro unreliable lane equipment would not be

missed.

Let’s make Kona Lanes an entertainment facility that Costa Mesa

can be proud of.

DICK EASSOM

Costa Mesa