Fond memories fuel rebirth of bowling alley

Aaron Gillette remembers bringing his children to Circle B Recreation Center in the Town of Cedarburg to go bowling.

Today, the Grafton resident and his family are working to renovate the center and turn it into a family-friendly entertainment hub called AJ’s Bowlyard.

It’s a big task. They’ve repaired the roof, made fixes to the facade and are waiting for a new sign.

They’ve added new, brightly colored carpeting that features bowling balls and pins and updated the scoring system, adding a new Brunswick system that has games intended to not only make bowling more fun but engage youths used to playing on screens while keeping track of the pin count.

One called Pinpix will allow people to upload a photo of themselves to the scoreboard and then add accessories as they score.

Games will be a big part of the center, with an arcade that’s expected to open in December and an interactive game room with a pixel wall and floor 

They’re also working to complete repairs to the kitchen, bringing back what was once a bar and banquet hall.

“We want the restaurant to stand on its own, with fresh foods and locally sourced foods,” Gillette said. “They used to do 200 fish fries on a Friday night — that’s what we want to get back to.”

They are also planning to have one area off the bowling alleys strictly for people 21 and older, a place where adults can enjoy food, drinks and games without kids running around.

“It should be a fun little date night space,” Gillette said.

It’s been a lot of work since Gillette and his wife Julie signed a lease for the 24-lane bowling center Sept. 1.  

“The place has been neglected for a few years,” Gillette said. 

But they’ve been able to keep two leagues playing even though the center isn’t open to the public yet and renovations continue.

“We did lose a lot of the leagues,” Gillette said. “They needed to bowl, and we weren’t ready. We’re still working on getting ready for the public.”

But, he added, “It’s been fun.” On a recent Tuesday, he noted, one league player came up just shy of a 300 game, scoring a seven in his last frame.

“It was great,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone get a 300.”

Getting those two leagues up and running was no easy task, Gillette said. At 3 p.m. the first day of league play the new scoring system went down, and then the machine that conditions the lanes broke down.

But by the time bowlers came in, a “minor miracle” occurred and everything was ready to go.

Gillette and his family have been working nonstop since they leased the building on Sept. 1, all in an effort to add activities that will not only attract families but get kids interested in bowling, a sport that’s been in decline for years.

“By the numbers, bowling has fallen off,” Gillette said. “What you see now is bowling included in a family entertainment center.”

And creating that type of facility, he said, is the family’s goal.

“You’re not going to get what you saw in bowling’s heyday,” Gillette said. “Now you have to make it an event, an attraction. That’s how you’re going to grow bowling. If we get kids in here, they’re going to do the bowling games. Maybe they get into it and they start bowling more as a hobby, and maybe then as they get older they join a league.

“That’s the only way you’re going to build it back up.”

Gillette has a background in family entertainment, having worked at Sea World, Snowbird Ski Resort and a number of restaurants.

“The hours were pretty crazy,” he said.

The family, which had been living on the West Coast, decided to move back to the Midwest. They thought about striking out on their own, considering possibilities and ultimately deciding to open an indoor mini-golf course.

They were set to open a place in Cedarburg, but the lease fell through, Gillette said. They found a place in Grafton, but that fell through.

Then they heard that the mall at Gurnee Mills in Illinois was looking for an indoor golf course operator. The Gillettes jumped at the opportunity, moved their equipment there and opened AJ’s Putt N Play in April.

“People are loving it,” Gillette said, noting the family designed a number of the 18 holes “It’s a super fun, unique place.”                                   

Then he heard about Circle B, which was purchased in late June by Duey and Laura Stroebel. The Stroebels, who bought the facility from Mark and Deb Klotz, second-generation owners of the business who wanted to retire, were looking for someone to run the recreation center.

Since then, Gillette said, they’ve been “going gung ho” to get things up and running.

“There’s a lot to do but we’ve knocked down the big items,” he said. 

The work is being done in phases, with the bowling alley and entertainment center being the focus initially — they’re hoping to open next month —followed by the arcade and restaurant in December.

The final phase will involve work on the former banquet hall, which the family is considering converting to a smaller banquet area and perhaps an indoor mini golf course that will draw families in winter.

When spring comes, he added, they will add some more outdoor attractions to complement the existing volleyball court and horseshoe pits.