City’s bowling alley on an outbound roll|[05/11/07]
Published 12:00 am Friday, May 11, 2007
The first game Arvis Dennis ever bowled in a league play came in Starkville in 1961.
He rolled a 61 out of a possible perfect 300 score. He had the fever, though, and when he moved to Vicksburg two years later to work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he made Red Carpet Lanes a home away from home two and even three nights a week.
On Thursday, he received a patch for bowling a 235 – 75 points higher than his average – and prepared for the last night of league play.
The 48-year-old Red Carpet Lanes will officially close its doors at the end of this month.
“I have devoted a lot of effort and energy into bowling,” Dennis said. “I’ve been league president and association president in the past. Part of me feels like not bowling is like dying a little bit, but that’s not a good word to use.”
A steady drop in business, antiquated equipment and the old structure itself have led to the lanes’ closing, owner Don Shehane said.
“My intention was to make it to the summer, then through the winter and make a decision at that time,” said Shehane, who bought the business from property owner John Magruder in 2004. “After looking at all the variables, I had to convince myself that it just wasn’t going to work out.”
The closing of the bowling alley comes six months after the closing of the city’s only movie theater, at Pemberton Square, which had operated for 21 years.
Plans for the bowling building at 2904 Clay, near the intersection with Hope Street, are in limbo, Shehane said. He and Magruder decided the upkeep and improvements were just too much.
Shehane then reeled off a lengthy list of problems plaguing the lanes.