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New Lucky
Strike Bowling Lanes to Open Next Month
By KEVIN BUTLER ©
L.A. Independent
April
29, 2003
Get ready to
roll.
Hollywood, which
recently lost its only bowling alley, Hollywood Star Lanes, is getting
a new place to roll at the Hollywood and Highland complex.
Lucky Strike,
which will open next month, is geared toward families and adults
looking to be handed a cocktail along with some bowling shoes, says
proprietor Steven Foster.
For wistful
fans of the now-defunct Star Lanes, which was demolished in August
to make way for a school, Lucky Strike will resurrect some of the
decades-old alley's vintage neon signs and trademark retro d/cor.
"Star Lane
artifacts "were beautiful," Foster says.
"I thought
it was important that pieces of pop Americana be preserved and presented
as favorably as possible. To let that go to the wrecking ball seemed
to me like a crime."
Visitors can
rest their drinks on Star Lanes' Lane 16, which Foster plucked from
the 5227 Santa Monica Blvd. bowling alley before its demolition
and turned into a bar top.
Foster sought
out Star Lanes memorabilia and other vintage furniture and light
fixtures to give his new complex "a very sophisticated, but
relaxed environment with nods to the 30s, 40s and 50s," he
says.
In addition
to the throwback bar, the club will offer sofas fashioned in the
style of the 1930s and a coffee table made of an old bed of nails.
The high-end,
12-lane complex will turn into a 21-and-over affair after 9 p.m.,
when partygoers can enjoy a full bar, smoking patio and a lounge
area during a break before trying to pick up that elusive spare.
Four of the
regulation lanes can be enclosed by drapes to form a private room.
And those bowling can enjoy six 120-square ft. screens that will
showcase art, such as moving graphics and photography. Once a month,
Foster will give emerging Los Angeles artists space on the screens.
Lucky Strike
will also offer sit-down dining and food service to lanes provided
by Along Came Mary, one of Los Angeles' premiere catering outfits
that services many Hollywood premieres, he said.
The "casual
American menu" will offer a mixed fare, ranging from hamburgers
and pizza to rock shrimp porcupines, he said, all with a "creative
twist."
Foster, who
founded Jillian's bowling complex in Universal City, is putting
$3.5 to $4 million dollars into the subterranean Lucky Strike, he
says.
The bowling
alley could be an important addition to Hollywood and Highland.
The mall, which offers a variety of restaurants and retail shops,
will benefit from an amusement destination such as a bowling alley,
adds Foster, who is creating Lucky Strike with his wife, Gillian.
"I think
we're going to be very popular. Obviously our success can't help
but spill over to the success of [Hollywood and Highland]"
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