Bowling could be making a comeback in Greater Victoria’s core area.
In a preliminary step, Saanich council has given support related to extended hours — to 2 a.m. — for live music and dancing at an entertainment complex at Uptown that would include 11 bowling lanes. Known as The Banquet, it would also have a turf area on its upper floor for recreational activities.
The facility is proposed for an existing Uptown building facing the shopping centre’s main boulevard and Douglas Street.
Seating for 636 people would include dining and bar seats. There is also a plan for upper-level patio space.
Bowling fans saw discouraging signs for their sport in 2006, when the 10-pin Mayfair Lanes closed and the building was torn down. It remains an empty lot next to Mayfair shopping centre. Town and Country Lanes, which offered five-pin bowling, followed in 2007. It was located on what is now the Uptown site.
Langford Lanes emerged to fill the 10-pin void in 2011, while Miracle Lanes, which offers five-pin bowling, is a long-standing facility in Sidney.
The Saanich council vote was needed for the Banquet project as part of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch approval process, said Saanich Coun. Susan Brice. She called the historic connection of Town and Country Lanes to the area “ironic and kind of lovely, in a way.”
“There was a lot of sadness in the community when the bowling alley was no longer there,” said Brice, who bowled in high school.
She said she is looking forward to a new bowling venue.
“Of all the projects that come before us, most don’t cause much of a flutter in the community, except for the immediate neighbourhood.”
But the thought of a new bowling alley has many people excited, including people in her family, she said.
Brice said she expects the project will progress from its current planning stage. “I’m sure that they’ll be successful with their liquor licence and then hopefully proceed.”
Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes said council was “unanimously pleased” with what was presented.
“It’s one of things that adds to the fabric of family resources, to go as a family.”
He said he wasn’t aware of a timeline for the project, but would like to see it done as soon as possible.
Bert Hick, a consultant for Edmonton-based Canadian Brewhouse, the company leading the proposal, said similar developments could be on the way in other centres. “People want to have this sort of experience.”
A report from Saanich staff said that community impact from such things as extended hours is expected to be minimal. It said Uptown is a major centre, as designated in the Official Community Plan, and that can mean having “a more vibrant living environment” where there can be noise and activity typical of a downtown.
“The proposed facility would provide a new dining and recreational opportunity to enliven the shopping centre,” the report said.
The 12 Uptown businesses responding to news of the proposal had no objection to it, nor did the Mount View Colquitz Community Association.
