NW Side Bowling Alley Closes Its Doors After 56 Years
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A bowling alley that has been a staple of Chicago's Northwest Side for more than 50 years has closed its doors.
Mont Clare Lanes owner Mark Ranallo tells WBBM, "April 4th was our final day of business. Two days later, we are tearing the place apart."
Ranallo's late father opened Mont Clare Lanes at 2957 North Harlem in 1956 and for decades it thrived as a bowling alley and a banquet hall.
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But Ranallo says business has been declining for years, the neighborhood has been changing and while bowling remains a very popular sport, the bills were piling up and so he and his two co-owners had to make the decision to close down.
"I tend to think that a lot of the social phones, smart phones took a lot away...you used to want to go bowling, you used to want to hang out and talk to people. But people talk and text...bowling will have a spot but it will never be like it was."
The building, which his father built, has been purchased by a developer who is transforming it into an apartment complex.
"Everything has its time," Ranallo says. "It was time."
