Synthetic strike: Newton bowling alley installs new lanes

A two-week-long project in October has the floors of Newton’s Cardinal Lanes bowling alley looking modernized with new material.

The Newton bowling alley, 1300 S. Fifth Ave. E., has completed the replacement of and has been regularly using its 16 newly refurbished lanes. The original hardwood floor had not been updated since Brian and Lisa McKinney purchased the bowling alley in 2015.

Now, a synthetic material sits on top of the old hardwood floors and is the exposed smooth surface of the lane.

The Newton bowling alley was built with 20 lanes but only 16 lanes received the synthetic layover. Brian McKinney, said the remaining four lanes were supposed to also see the upgrades; however, for economic reasons and an error made while installing the surface on those lanes, Cardinal Lanes operators decided to stick with a 16-lane layout. Brian McKinney said they may one day turn the four lanes into an arcade or a laser tag area.

Regardless, Brian McKinney sees many benefits for using the laminent.

“Synthetic will last longer. It’s less maintenance,” McKinney said. “It’s basically like the difference between having a hardwood floor and a laminate. It’s easier to take care of than hardwood.”

McKinney was able to confirm the project cost significantly more than the $50,000 they first budgeted for the project. To keep up with the times, as far as bowling alleys are concerned, the synthetic layover was necessary.

“They’re not really making wooden lanes anymore. You can order them, but it would cost you twice as much as it used to back in the 1950s and 1960s,” McKinney said.

McKinney wasn’t the only one who realized expensive upgrades were necessary. Brian’s wife, Lisa McKinney, said it was a matter of time before they made the improvement on the lanes, given the condition and large investment on the owners’ end.

“It’s very important for its future because the wood lanes had no life left to them. We found out when we bought it that would be the last sanding they could do on it. We really can’t install the lanes. It’s just not feasible. So that’s not the direction this board is going,” said Lisa McKinney, co-owner.

Lisa McKinney said the people who originally installed lanes brought in were overused in 1971. Also, when they built the building, they brought in the pin spotters from another alley.

“They weren’t even new in 1971,” Lisa McKinney said. “They were all used, and along with the lanes.”

Contact Orrin Shawl at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or oshawl@newtondailynews.com