Just how much life does Blue Heron Bowl have left?
Back when the Barrhead Bowling Association actually built the facility in 1979 with financial assistance from the Town of Barrhead, it was estimated that the building would have a 40-year lifespan.
As those four decades have now passed, the question of whether Barrhead’s bowling alley is on its last legs occured to town council when the Barrhead Bowling Association approached the municipality about helping to purchase new pin-setting equipment for $50,000.
Councillors were naturally hesitant about sinking thousands of dollars into an older building, so administration reached out to Associated Engineering about conducting an assessment of the facility.
Last week, the price tag for that assessment came back to council: $21,500.
As you can glean from reading the story on Page 2A, a few councillors were reluctant to spend that much money as they already know what the report is going to say — that the building is old and it needs a lot of work.
And quite honestly, council is not prepared to spend a lot on the bowling alley. So that $21,500 would, in theory, be wasted.
To be fair, their position is understandable. There is a line where you decide that it is better to cut bait and put your resources elsewhere, whether that is a new facility or another venture altogether.
But their assumption is based on the condition of the building being extremely poor. The engineering firm may find that Blue Heron Bowl, with relatively little work, can continue to serve local bowlers for years to come.
After all, as mayor Dave McKenzie noted, the building is fairly basic, being simple concrete and wood construction. If the foundation and roof are in good shape, there is a good chance the rest of the building is too, meaning any renovations are not necessarily a deal-breaker.
An assessment might even point to some fixes that would become huge projects in the years ahead if not dealt with now.
As well, we do have to consider that if we’re just going to give up pre-emptively on the Blue Heron Bowl, that basically means the end of local bowling. The number of bowlers in town has dropped to the point where the association just barely breaks even.
Barrhead’s not getting a new bowling alley, period. There might be room made somewhere for some lanes, but it won’t be its own building anymore.
It is better to swallow that cost and do the structural assessment. Yes, it might feel like a waste if the report comes back and says, “This needs a lot more work than you’re likely to pay for.” But we might also learn that keeping bowling in Barrhead isn’t as expensive as some councillors seem to might think.
