Deirdre NewmanClaudia Lipari started bowling at Kona...

Deirdre Newman

Claudia Lipari started bowling at Kona Lanes when she was 7. Within

the last year, she had been bringing her son to the Tiki-themed

bowling alley that has been a Costa Mesa landmark since the 1950s.

On Wednesday, instead of trying to knock pins down, Lipari was

helping tear the place down.

The bowling alley closed its doors for good Sunday and has been

selling off mementos such as pins and balls ever since. Next week at

the alley, owner Jack Mann will take offers for the larger pieces of

equipment.

“[My son] bowled his first game here,” Lipari said. “My first

[game] was here, too, so at least I got to do that with him. It’s

sad. I don’t want this place to go.”

While Kona Lanes evoked a groundswell of nostalgia in the

community during the past few months as C.J. Segerstrom & Sons tried

to replace it with a Kohl’s department store, it did not translate

into financial support for the ailing alley, former manager Juanita

Johnson said.

“With all the publicity, people assumed we were closed,” Johnson

said. “It took a downhill dive. Every day we opened our door, we went

deeper into debt.”

Sunday’s closure took many people by surprise, especially devoted

Kona fans who wanted to get in one last round.

“It’s like a best friend you could always depend on, and then, out

of the blue, you see that life changes and times change,” said

resident Jon Peek, 39, who said Kona was part of his family history.

In early April, Mann announced that Kona Lanes would close at the

end of June because of the dismal financial state it was in. The

alley had survived the last few years only because of rent

concessions from the Segerstroms, Mann said.

Mann expressed a deep sense of regret at the closure of an

institution that meant so much to so many.

“It’s disappointing because of the fun that people have had

there,” Mann said. “Literally millions of games have been bowled

there. It kind of feels like a tangible thing. When I’m there at

night, you can almost grab it.”

On Wednesday, fans converged on the alley in the morning and

trickled in for the rest of the afternoon to score a piece of bowling

history.

One of those was Robert Calvert, 36, of Huntington Beach, who took

bowling classes at Kona when he was a student at Orange Coast

College. Calvert, who bought two pins at five dollars a pop, lamented

the loss of such of a fun part of Costa Mesa’s history.

“Future youth are not even going to know what it’s about,” Calvert

said. “It should be a time capsule. Ruby’s [restaurant] is trying to

recreate this, but this is the real thing.”

Jeanetta Horne came from Santa Ana with her daughter to get some

bowling balls for her grandson. Horne said she used to bowl at Kona

and will miss a place that offered affordable family fun.

“I hate to see it go,” Horne said. “This is one of the cheapest

recreation [options] for the family you can find.”

Not all the coveted items were inside the alley, though.

Brooke James was as excited as if she had just bowled a strike

when she spotted old and tattered furniture from Kona being thrown in

a dumpster in the parking lot.

James rushed over and offered to buy a good chunk of it for her

vintage clothing store across the street.

“Look at these -- aren’t they cool?” James cooed, pointing to

dilapidated chairs with fabric peeking out from tears in the

upholstery. “I’ll re-cover it with cool fabric and stuff.”

Her husband, David, who grew up in Costa Mesa and owns a record

store across the street, is holding out hope of snagging the “Kona

Lanes” sign.

“I spent a lot of time here as a kid,” David said. “I want

something to remember it by. ... I’m flat broke, but I will bid my

loyalty and time in Costa Mesa so some greedy developer or EBay

doesn’t get it.”

Mann said he has been flooded with offers for various items and

will probably keep some of the goods that have sentimental value to

him, such as the clock that has overlooked lane 20 for almost as long

as the alley has been open.

“If I had a large enough house, I’d take the bar with me,” Mann

said. “It’s the original brass standing bar that’s been in there

forever.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.