Coming soon to Cashmere: bowling

Every day for the past month, kids and adults in Cashmere — a town of about 3,000 in Eastern Washington apple country — have been peering from the sidewalk into the goings-on at 107 Cottage Ave. in their small downtown.

There is a bowling alley going in — just four lanes, but a bowling alley nevertheless. This Chelan County town, about nine miles west of Wenatchee, last had a bowling alley some 35 years ago, and last had a movie theater about 47 years ago. Both closed because of fire.

"Everybody I've talked to has been enthusiastic. We need something for youth, even though adults will be bowling, too," said Richard Dueman, 63, a retired forklift operator, who plays in two bowling leagues. He has to drive to a bowling alley in East Wenatchee for his games.

Cashmere isn't exactly chock-full of things to do, especially if you're a teen. Highlights include the hamburger drive-in, Rusty's; the Aplets and Cotlets factory tour and the Pioneer Village and Museum.

Well, there also is Brian's Bulldog Pizza, named after the Cashmere High School mascot. It's owned by Brian Wintermeier, 33, a 1991 graduate.

It is Wintermeier who is investing $350,000 into the bowling alley through a Small Business Administration bank loan.

That's a sizable amount of money, but Wintermeier, a bowler himself, has a vision.

The bowling alley is in a building that was a carpet business right next to Brian's Bulldog Pizza. When the owner said last December that he'd sell the building, and Wintermeier measured it and saw that it could contain four full-size bowling lanes ... it all came together in his mind.

Somehow, it all just seemed right, he said.

Bowling would return to Cashmere. Bowling united with pizza.

"They'd just feed off each other," he said.

There would even be Cosmic Bowling, in which the regular lights are turned off, black lights turned on, and the lanes and pins glow in the dark. All accompanied by DJ lights and rock 'n' roll.

Wintermeier envisioned his alley not as a place for league play, but for casual bowling.

In that, Wintermeier was reflecting a national trend, said Mark Miller, spokesman for the U. S. Bowling Congress, based in Greendale, Wis.

After years of decline, he said, the number of bowling alleys being built each year, 50 to 100, about equals the number closing, 75 to 100. The peak for bowling alleys was in the early 1960s, he said, when there were around 11,000 in the country; that number had dropped to 5,700 by last year.

Still, Miller said, 65 million people bowl at least once a year. But now, half of them are casual instead of league bowlers, he said.

Gone are days when housewives bowled in daytime leagues. The economy changed and women worked outside their homes. Gone are days of league games that started at 9 at night, with bowlers getting home at 1 in the morning. These days, the morning work commute can start at 6 a.m., or earlier.

And, said Miller, gone are the days in which Americans would commit to a sports league requiring them to show up at the same time every week for six months. They have too many other commitments, he said.

To fulfill his vision, all that Wintermeier had to figure out was the finances. He already knew one set cost: The building was selling for $165,000.

And so he went where just about everyone putting together a startup business goes: the Internet, where he found that a newly built four-lane alley would set him back $400,000. He went back to Google and typed in "used bowling alleys."

On Oct. 3, a huge semi arrived in Cashmere, having traveled all the way from the Yulee, Fl., headquarters of United Bowling Products.

For $98,250, Wintermeier had bought a used four-lane bowling alley, with all the equipment, including the DJ lights and sound system. Installation and refurbishing of the wood lanes was included.

Wintermeier had to take the front door and window off the building so that all the parts could be moved in. That included 2-inch-thick planks, 42 inches wide and 16 feet long. It took six men to carry them in.

Work on the bowling alley is expected to be finished around Nov. 20.

The other night, 11 kids were having pizza at Brian's, talking about the new hangout.

Juan Oropeza, 15, said by phone: "It's going to be fun. I'm excited."

Brian Wintermeier still vividly remembers seeing that semi-truck parked in front of 107 Cottage Ave., filled with his vision.

"I didn't sleep the night before," he said. "It was like Christmas, opening up a present."

Erik Lacitis: elacitis@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2237.