Local kingpins are mourning the loss of Good Times Bowl, which
closed its doors for good this month.
Hollister – Local kingpins are mourning the loss of Good Times Bowl, which closed its doors for good this month.
The bowling alley that has been a Hollister staple for more than 40 years is no more, much to the dismay of local bowlers. Despite a plan to keep the bowling alley open when he and Marty and Mike Greenwood bought it last year, Dave Galtman said there are just not enough customers to keep it going.
“As far as I know, it’s probably not coming back,” Galtman said. “There weren’t people coming out to bowl like they used to, like in the past.”
Hollister resident Buddy Pattillo and his wife, who have been bowling in a league at Good Times for about a decade, said losing one of Hollister’s few recreational offerings for older people is disappointing.
“Now there’s on less thing to do in Hollister,” he said.
Without Good Times in Hollister, Pattillo said his bowling career is as good as over.
“I’m not going to go to Gilroy or Salinas for 35 weeks in the winter,” he said.
Earlier this year, the lanes were torn out of the Good Times, and the equipment was removed.
The lanes have been a part of Hollister since 1963 – first known as Hollister Family Bowl, then as Hollister lanes and finally Good Times Bowl.
Galtman said he wasn’t sure why there had been a decline in the local bowling scene, but he thought that children becoming involved with other activities, such as sports, might have something to do with it.
Galtman said he and the Greenwoods have planned to use part of the building as a motorcycle dealership since they bought the property about a year ago.
“It’s the reason we bought it,” he said. “From day one our plan was always to put in a shop,” he said.
But a public outpouring of concern about losing the bowling alley prompted them to consider just cutting out eight of the 18 lanes. That never happened, Galtman said.
“We weren’t seeing a big need for the bowl,” he said.
Some local bowlers disagree and think that Galtman and his partners were never serious about retaining a portion of the building for bowling.
In addition to using part of the building as a motorcycle dealership, Galtman said they want to lease a portion of it for a family restaurant.
Luke Roney covers politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com.
