With so many places reopening, some are still left in the dark, like bowling centers.

What You Need To Know

  • Bowling centers in WNY left in limbo trying to reopen

  • Manor Lanes and the Bowl-Inn Bowling Center are waiting for guidance to open their lanes

  • Labor Day weekend is when most bowling centers want to open by 

"To not have an answer as to when we're going to be able to reopen is incredibly frustrating," said Brian Russo, the owner of Manor Lanes in Tonawanda.

That's a sentiment you'll hear at bowling centers across Western New York as they wait for the green light to reopen their lanes.

Russo said, "Watching the malls being able to reopen and you're seeing movie theaters now at the end of August that are going to reopen and it just doesn't make sense to me why we're being told we can't reopen."

Manor Lanes in the town of Tonawanda has been closed since mid-March. The owner says they've gone to great lengths to ensure their bowlers are safe once they're allowed to return. That was supposed to be in Phase 4. 

Russo said, "Five days before Phase 4 was supposed to start, we were informed that bowling was considered high risk and was no longer in the Phase 4 reopening plan."

All this left them in limbo amid their growing frustration. This week, Manor Lanes is opening up their outdoor patios and some of their inside for customers to enjoy food and drinks as a way to earn some revenue to help stay afloat.

"Our backs are up against the wall and we're trying to do whatever we can to make sure that we're still here," Russo said.

Like Manor Lanes, the Bowl-Inn Bowling Center in Buffalo has implemented all the precautionary protocols to stop the spread of the virus and they're still finding a way to pay the bills with their pizzeria and bar open for service. Mark Williamson, the owner, is preparing a letter to send to Governor Cuomo and other politicians with some advice for helping out bowling centers and other businesses in these tough times.

Williamson said, "If we just took that unemployment money and gave it to the businesses, not just bowling centers, any business to subsidize their pay roll, sort of the same way you do with a farmer's crop subsidy, it's the same philosophy. If you give the businesses the same money you were spending on unemployment for their payroll which is the biggest expense they have, the biggest expense would be covered and then keep the doors open."

He says time is of the essence because the fall bowling season starts around Labor Day and if they don't get the all-clear by then, it may leave them in a deeper hole.

"I've talked to 5 other bowling center owners and managers they said if they don't allow us to open back up by that deadline of Labor Day every lane like we always have they're not going to even open back up," Williamson said.

Both places are trying to remain optimistic and they're urging bowlers to do the same.

He said, "Hang on people we're trying everything we can to reopen as soon as they give us the green light ours doors will be open we miss all our customers."