The Recreation Center in Lankford Student Union is set for changes and possible renovations due to low us- age from students. The bowling alley, which was once used several times a week, now barely has any business.
The alley was initially used by the bowling classes 12-15 times a week; however, since those classes are no longer offered, the space is going largely unused.
“The usage of that space has really gone down,” said Susan Sullivan, director of the Student Union and Involvement. “If we’re not getting the business in there that we should be getting, how else can we use that space, where it would benefit stu- dents?”
The general understanding is that the bowling alley will be taken out of the center. Sullivan said there are cur- rently no plans to dispose of the pool and ping pong tables in the center.
Due to upcoming renovations of the building, Sullivan said a great deal of money is not expected to be invested in the recreation center. The school cannot upgrade the bowling alley to digital scoring and black lights, which Main Street Lanes features.
Malvin Eanes, recreation manager for the Student Union and Involve- ment, suggested selling the bowling equipment if the bowling alley does close down. There are companies and even other bowling alleys which could purchase the equipment.
“What I would like to do is take that money and put it back into the space,” said Sullivan. New additions to the space would include more furniture or tables.
As for Eanes, he has been with the school for more than 30 years and is a certified mechanic to work on the bowling machinery. Eanes said that many students do not even realize that the bowling alley is in the Recreation Center.
Eanes has tried to acquire more money to be put into the alley but has been unsuccessful due to budget cuts.
“My intention was to take the bowl- ing alley and update it,” Eanes said. Eanes discussed past ideas, such as automatic scoring and blacklights similar to Main Street Lanes. He also talked about possibly holding mid- night bowling specials.
Eanes says that he hates to see the bowling alley go, but says it’s just a “different generation of students.” He said some schools have video games incorporated into their recreation centers and that it may be something Longwood University eventually adds as well.
One of the ideas for using the space is to convert it into a study area. It has even been discussed at SGA meetings to use the space as a 24/7 study space since there is no other area to do this on campus. Student input on the center is being received from the weekly emails.
“That physical space of the bowling alley, I don’t really know what we’ll do with it,” said Sullivan.
As of now, there has been no indication that the university plans on putting a bowling alley in the new Student Center that is expected to open in 2016.
