Bulldog Lanes in Montesano officially reopened Monday, Aug. 20, for its bowling and dining customers.

“We’re excited,” said Brooke Chapman, co-owner with Todd Hoiness, Monday morning. “We’re ready to go.”

“We’re partners in the bowling alley and partners in life,” Hoiness said.

The lanes have been closed since early May, when a series of leaks began, forcing a string of repairs. Eight lanes now are open out of the 12.

Over the weekend, a class reunion at the lanes had about 35 bowlers.

“We had a blast,” Chapman said of the reunion.

A chassis still is under repair causing the four lanes to remain closed.

“It shouldn’t affect our leagues,” Chapman said. “We don’t have more than eight teams per league, so we should be good league-wise.”

Bulldog has nine leagues ready to start bowling when the seasons begin.

“Plus we have Special Olympics with 65-plus kids a week,” Chapman said. “The kids still bowl here for (physical education). So the sixth to 12th grade kids come to bowl for five weeks a year.”

Business was steady Monday with customers coming and going for breakfast or lunch.

They have some specials (dollar-per-game, $2.50 for shoes) going for customers who return. Many breakfasts are $5. Coupons that were handed out by the Montesano Fire and Police departments will continue to be honored beyond any printed expiration date.

The wooden lanes, originally opened in 1963, are the only ones in the state, Chapman said, who took over the lanes with Hoiness in May 2016.

Bulldog Lanes, at 222 E. Wynoochee Ave. in Montesano, is below Pick-Rite Thriftway. Bulldog Lanes’ owners are tenants of Pick-Rite’s owners, Ann and Marc Galland.

The alley’s recent struggles began two years later, on May 7.

“The ceiling started falling in over the mechanics of the lanes,” Chapman said. “Literally, water was pouring out of the ceiling from the (Pick-Rite) coolers into the ‘brains’ of the lanes, which control the mechanics, frying them.”

The Gallands are moving most of Pick-Rite’s refrigeration units from above the bowling alley to the other side of the building. They also are repiping and plumbing the east side of the building, which will hopefully prevent leaks from affecting the bowling alley.

“The floor has been a pretty constant issue,” Ann Galland said. “Now that we are moving the refrigeration out of the center of the store, we will not have moisture creeping into the integrity of the new floor. The only refrigeration that will be above the bowling alley will be for the bakery and the deli. And those floors have no seams. We’ve gone up the walls with the flooring material, which will prevent major leaks.”

During the process, Pick-Rite is undergoing a major redesign inside, including new flooring throughout the store.

“With the leaks that have plagued that side of the store, this renovation couldn’t happen soon enough,” Galland said.

“We have to move each aisle and relocate everything. It’s quite an ongoing process.”

Work will continue at Bulldog Lanes as well. In addition to repairing the broken chassis, which should begin soon, Montesano’s KD&S Environmental will take out the remainder of the asbestos from the bowling alley’s ceiling, finishing up in October.

“If we did not have (KD&S) in the community and they did not want to have a better community, we would never have gotten it done because their schedule is so booked,” Chapman said. “Their guys were in here on Fridays and Saturdays working overtime. Their guys are so great. They would work around the clock, and they did wonders.”

In the mean time, Bulldog is open and ready for business.

Michael Lang, Vidette editor, 360-537-3936 or mlang@thevidette.com.

Michael Lang | The Vidette A steady stream of customers visits the counter at the diner Monday, Aug. 20, 2018, at Bulldog Lanes in Montesano after the bowling alley and diner reopened.

Michael Lang | The Vidette “The pit” is where every bowler hopes the pins end up. At Bulldog Lanes in Montesano, eight of the alley’s 12 pits are open again after water damage fried the electronic components in May. (Photo take Aug. 10, 2018)

Michael Lang | The Vidette Todd Hoiness (left) and Brooke Chapman, co-owners of Bulldog Lanes, are happy that the alley and diner are open again for the first time in almost four moths. (Photo taken Aug. 10, 2018)

Michael Lang | The Vidette Todd Hoiness is back cracking eggs and flipping burgers at Bulldog Lanes’ grill Monday, Aug. 20, in Montesano. Hoiness is the co-owner of the bowling alley, which also opened Monday, and had been closed since water leaks May 7.

Michael Lang | The Vidette Ann Galland, who co-owns Pick-Rite Thriftway with her husband, Marc, shows some of the refrigeration units that will be moved and eventually replaced Aug. 16, 2018, at the Montesano store.