As the clinks and clanks of bowling pins fill the air, Ark Tyles struggles with his words.
“It broke my heart. Completely,” he says.
Tyles has been an employee of Bathurst Bowlerama since 1989, but soon, he won't have this job.
When the lanes close following Saturday night’s play, the bowling alley will fall silent forever.
It has been a staple on Bathurst Street, in North York, for 56 years. It offered a place for tournaments and parties. It offered five-pin bowling on the main floor and 10-pin in the basement.
And for the Woodchippers, a bowling league for adults with special needs, it offered more.
“It’s fun, there are a lot of friends here,” said one league member.
“We have a good time bowling,” said another.
“For some of them, it’s the highlight of their week,” noted Lynda Mason, an organizer.
“They’re here at 9:30 or 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning – we don’t start until one -- and this is their life.”
According to the bowling alley’s owner, business has been on a roll, but the property owner wanted to sell the plot.
Despite Sivakumar Sivarahah’s efforts, he couldn’t convince the property owners not to sell.
“(It’s) really hard to say the feeling. It’s a hard feeling though. It’s heart-breaking,” Sivarahah said.
A condo development is expected to be built in the bowling alley’s place.
On Saturday, the lanes were opened for a final time.
Members of the Woodchippers were among the bowlers who showed up to bid farewell. For them, the moment is especially difficult.
“A lot of them are in limbo, they have nowhere to go,” Mason explained
The Woodchippers are now looking for a new home – a bowling alley that, like Bathurst Bowlerama, is both accessible and affordable.
