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The old Park Lanes bowling alley has come a long way since first opening up on West Seventh Avenue back in the 1956.In 1959, Park Lanes was officially chartered and offered sanctioned leagues for both men and women.The women’s league was chartered as the Corsicana Women’s Bowling Association, while the men’s was called the Navarro County Bowling Association. The leagues, including a youth league, have merged together to form the Navarro USBC (U.S. Bowling Conference), and are still the home to a plethora of past and present champions. Saturday, July 19, 2008, marked a new beginning as the new owners, Jamie Brooks and Randy Isenberg of Super Bowl Enterprises, held a grand opening for the refurbished facility, which will now be called Corsicana Super Bowl. Fresh paint, a new name, new lanes, new bumper rails, a remodeled snack bar, and a give-a-way of 100 bowling bowls to kids attracted a large crowd during the three-day celebration.Mike Velasco, in charge of marketing, said the Chamber of Commerce, and the citizens of Corsicana have been very appreciative and supportive.“Paul Hooper and the Chamber have been great and helped us out,” Velasco said. “Anything we’ve asked them to do, they have.”
“The company has invested over $50,000 in parts for the backend of the operation,” said Velasco. “The lanes are brand new. We have brand new pins plus the newly remodeled snack bar, and we’ll offer league bowling at night.”Velasco said the newly remodeled facility is planning to offer activities for kids at least two to three days a week.“The program is called Kids Club,” Velasco said. “It’s basically an after school bowling program in which we’ll teach kids all about the game, including how to keep score by hand, which goes hand-in-hand with math skills as well.” The goal of Corsicana Super Bowl is to offer a place that will give families a place to do something together they plan to implement a parents-kids night, too.“We want to make this a more family oriented facility,” he said. “There’s not a lot of places that families can go and do things together anymore, and we would like to make this a place where they can come and enjoy the atmosphere and spend time doing something that is fun.”Cindy Turner is the manager for the Corsicana Super Bowl, overseeing the facility for the past seven and a half years.“It’s changed a lot,” Turner said, talking about the recent renovations. “Changes I thought I’d never see.”Turner said she is excited about the changes and the new activities that will be available for families to enjoy.
She and fellow employees were kept busy all weekend as Corsicana Super Bowl offer $1 games, $1 hotdogs, fries, and small drinks to folks coming in to see what the excitement was all about as groups filled every spot to test out the new lanes.One of the neat little improvements had to be the pop-up bumpers available on each lane. In the past, an employee, as with most bowling facilities, would have to grab an arm full of foam bumpers to line up down each side of the lane in order for youngsters to enjoy the game a little more.Now, all they have to do is lift up the rail and it locks into place.The lanes are very smooth and shiny and the ball returns work extra fast to keep things rolling. Wortham native Haden Proulx was one of the lucky kids to receive a free bowling ball.He was just one of many to have his fingers measured by Woody Woodcock, with Zapp It Bowling Products, and Larry Reynolds, with Peoples Pro Shops located at Plano Super Bowl. Reynolds drilled the holes for a custom fit in the new bowling balls.Proulx said he and his family come to Corsicana and bowl often.His mom was with him on Saturday to collect his ball.“We’re actually in a league here,” said Shannon Proulx, Haden’s mom. “That’s how we found out about the ball signup.”She said the family likes the changes and likes the effort the new company is putting into the facility.
Also helping out at the grand opening was Woodcock’s wife, Linda, who was busy demonstrating some of the products, which would help keep the kid’s new bowling balls in top-notch shape.Jamie Brooks, one of the new owners, was there to join in the ribbon cutting that was held on Saturday. Corsicana Super Bowl is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to midnight for the summer, and hours may change a little during the fall. |
