Contractors from J&L Roofing are busy repairing the roof and building a new facade on the outside of the bowling alley that closed in 2011, and was sold to a West Chester investment company in 2014. The bowling alley and 1.4 acres were sold for $35,000, 23 percent of its appraised value of $154,000, according to the Butler County Auditor’s Office.
RELATED: Sports Bowl closed after more than 50 years
At the time of the closing, owner Steve Davidson, who was raised in the bowling alley, said he was unable to find a buyer who could secure a loan, so he sold off the equipment. After his father, Richard “Davey” Davidson, died, Davidson moved his trophy business next to Stefano’s Italian Cafe on Central Avenue.
The building has sat vacant ever since.
The building is owned by EKAM Investments LLC, according to the auditor’s office. Several calls to the company and Jeff Cornwell from Lierman & Cornwell LPA were not returned to the Journal-News.
Davidson said he didn’t want to speculate what the West Chester investment firm will do with the building, but he knows it won’t be a bowling alley, leaving Middletown with one bowling alley, Eastern Lanes.
Sports Bowl had a long history in the city.
Louis Zavakos built Sports Bowl and opened it on Aug. 25, 1956, as an 18-lane house, but expanded to 32 lanes the following year. At the time, it offered the area’s first automatic pinspotter, underlane ball return, baby-sitting service, pro shop and trophy engraving business. It also featured the Driftwood Room, a full-service restaurant and bar.
Under the leadership of Davey Davidson, the owner from 1971 until his death on Dec. 1, 2010, Sports Bowl attracted state and national tournaments.
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