Demolition is presently underway in the interior of the former Goody’s clothing store at the Vicksburg Mall as workers prepare the space to be developed as a bowling alley.

“We’re looking to open in six to eight months,” said Patrick Belden, operations manager for the project, which is owned by Luis Angel, owner of El Sombrero Restaurant. “We’re hoping to open in six months, but that depends on how construction goes.

“We’ve had to do a lot so far,” he said. “We had to get the approval of the other tenants in the mall, and we’re getting our plans finished. We hope to present them to the city in the next 30 days.”

Vicksburg Mall director Mike Carlisle said demolition began at the property about four weeks ago.

“This is going to be a great addtion for family entertainment,” Carlisle said.

Once completed, the bowling alley will be the first for the city since Red Carpet Lanes.

Red Carpet operated on Clay Street near Hope Street for 48 years, before closing in 2003 because of structural problems with the building and a lack of bowlers.

The nearest bowling venue is Indian Lanes in Clinton.

There were previous attempts to build a bowling alley on U.S. 61 North near Fox’s Pizza.

Belden said plans initially called for a stand-alone building, “But we thought we would try and use available space in the mall and try and help the smaller tenants.”

The bowling alley will have 16 lanes with a restaurant and family entertainment section featuring games and other items.

“We could have put 22 lanes, but we wanted to have room for people to move,” Belden said, “and 16 lanes is high end for a market like Vicksburg. What we want to do is give people more to do in Vicksburg, instead of going to Jackson or Monroe. We want them to stay here in town.”