A popular Newcastle bowling alley is poised to re-open within weeks after being taken over by a trio of sporting entrepreneurs.
Regulars were left stunned last year when MFA Bowl Newcastle on Westgate Road closed its doors, giving its many customers just hours to collect their belongings.
The building – which can trace its history back to 1911 when it was the Brighton Electric Theatre cinema – has lain empty ever since, but hopes were raised when the building’s owners sought to renew its gaming and premises licences.
Now it can be revealed that, behind the scenes, two bowling league members and the alley’s former manager have spent the last 10 months negotiating a deal with landlords to take on the lease and bring 10-pin bowling back.
Previous manager Paul Ryder, together with Dave Malpas – who is also Northumberland Tenpin Bowling Association secretary – and a third private investor and league player, are refurbishing the building with plans to reopen next month before the end of the school holidays.
The trio, who have 84 years of bowling experience between them, completed on the lease on Tuesday, and say they can’t wait to welcome back regulars and newcomers,
At the time of the closure, there were more than 100 league bowlers playing regularly at the centre, many who had been bowling there since the 1970s.
Reopening before September should, said Mr Malpas, bring back the top quality league games, as well as the regular events which drew in crowds over the years, including children’s parties and Halloween, Christmas Eve and New Years’ Eve parties and Tuesday Rock Nights.
Mr Malpas said: “We’re hoping to reopen as The Bowl Newcastle before the end of the summer holidays and so long as the contractors turn up on time and complete the job on time we should do it. We’ve got joiners in at the moment and plasterers are coming tomorrow. There’s a lot to do.
“It’s in a bit of a state but won’t take much to get it looking nice again. We’ve already done the bar and the loos up.”
Mr Malpas is semi-retired but runs a pharmaceutical consultancy part-time, having worked at Sanofi at Fawdon before the site was closed by its French owners.
He said negotiating the lease had been lengthy and that he and his new business partners are over the moon to get the deal over the line.
He added: “We may not know about leases but we do know how to run a bowling alley.
“We are excited to re-open, but there’s also uncertainty because until we re-open and get people in, we’re just spending money! But more than anything we are excited.”
