HAMBURG, N.Y. — Braymiller's Lanes, a historic building in Hamburg, collapsed as a result of the recent snowstorm, and is slated to be demolished in the coming days.

Howard Braymiller first learned the roof of the bowling alley he owned was in trouble from online posts. 

“Immediately my friend picked me up and drove me down here,” he said. “The snow was like this, all the way around. You couldn't even get in the parking lot at all. The whole road was roped off by police and the fire department.”

When he arrived, Braymiller saw the catastrophic damage.

“It's a pitched roof with trusses and when you get the extreme amount of snow, it pushed the trusses down like this, it pushed the whole roof down,” said Braymiller. “That caused the ceiling to go down and then the walls, caused the walls to push out.

Braymiller says he thought he could save the front part of the bowling alley and redo the back that had collapsed. But there was just so much damage, he says it's impossible to save the beloved building.  

He and his family are heartbroken to lose part of their history. 

“We poured our lives into this,” Braymiller said. “My grandfather started this close to a hundred years ago. He worked here his whole life. My father worked here his whole life. I worked here my whole life and to see it ending in such a dramatic fashion is like not great.”

While the building's end is difficult, Braymiller says people from the community have reached out with their memories of the bowling alley. He says Gov. Kathy Hochul and Tom Tallman, the mayor of the village of Hamburg, also stopped by. 

“There's been so many posts about people sharing their experiences here,” said Braymiller. “It was so fun, all these fun experiences. That's what's really gets me emotional.”

Locking the door for one last time, Braymiller remains optimistic.

“I'm already in the works,” he said. “I have big ideas. Planning a bowling alley right in the same direction, right in the center of Hamburg.”