Bowling Alley

The owners of Triangle Square are rebranding the struggling Costa Mesa shopping center as The Triangle, where an upscale restaurant, entertainment and retail will mix with late hours, alcohol sales and a 10-lane bowling alley. Newport Beach-based Greenlaw Partners, with the help of outside finance partners, is attempting to revitalize the commercial complex that has been suffering high tenant vacancies in recent years. The master plan for its project received city approval in March.

I've read with concern the letters against the change from the little-used bowling alley, Kona Lanes, to a new department store, Kohl's, which would be used by many. One of the biggest complaints against the change is the potential effect of traffic in the area. Indeed, there would be a change. Many mothers with children could walk to the department store, thus saving vehicle use on the boulevard. Lots of the (demeaned, I think, by many in letters to the editor)

COSTA MESA Kona Lanes bowling alley closes before last frame Bowlers despaired after Kona Lanes shut its doors two weeks ahead of schedule on Sunday. Those who missed getting a last round in can still scoop up pins, shoes and other mementos and make offers on larger pieces of equipment from the landmark bowling alley this week from noon to 4 p.m. The alley closed because of financial difficulties. The City Council deadlocked again on whether to reconsider its approval of high-density condominiums downtown.

AT ISSUE: Triangle Square's eventual reinvention will attract new eateries and other goodies to the shopping center. As I was driving by the other day, I thought what a perfect place to put a bowling alley. Two, I guess three, markets have failed, but I think that would be a place to have the bowling alley since Kona Lanes is going to be shut down. I think they should look into turning the lower floor into a fun zone or an activities area. I think a Ruby's would be good there.

Paul Clinton An Ohio sign museum has given Kona Lanes a second life, agreeing to preserve the bowling alley's distinctive Tiki-style sign as a part of its collection. The American Sign Museum, which is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, will add the sign to its collection of more than 2,500 signs, photographs and books chronicling a niche of the country's commercial history. The sign from the bowling alley, which closed May 18, was removed via crane on Monday.

The Portabello estate in Corona del Mar carries with it a $75 million price tag, as well as a 50,000-square-foot basement with a bowling alley, grotto and a tunnel to the ocean. It's also paved the way for one of the contractors who helped build the home to become an award winner. Corona del Mar-based Ekedal Masonry and Concrete worked on the basement and was honored this year for the 2007 Best Basement of the Year by the Concrete Foundations Assn. of North America. "It's nice when people recognize your work because it doesn't normally happen," Ekedal said.

Deirdre Newman A 45-year landmark will soon disappear from the city's landscape. C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, which owns Kona Lanes, plans to demolish the bowling alley within the next two weeks, company spokesman Paul Freeman said Friday. The alley, which closed May 18, reflects Tiki googie architecture, the quintessential "look-at-me" style that began in Southern California in response to the car culture and explodes with Polynesian flavor. Support for the aging alley swelled in April when the City Council considered a Kohl's department store for the area of the Mesa Verde Shopping Center where the alley and the now-defunct Edwards movie theater and Ice Capades Chalet are. But that did not translate into economic support for the alley, which survived the last few years only because of rent concessions from the Segerstroms, owner Jack Mann has said.

It seems to me that the Segerstroms just want to sell that land. Costa Mesa does not need another department store. We need some places for recreation. A reader complained that Kona Lanes is run down. I am sure that if the owners had some security about the future of that site and assurances that the bowling alley can remain, they would invest some money into refurbishing the facility and make Kona Lanes what it once was. Kona Lanes needs to be saved.

Lolita Harper COSTA MESA -- Rumbling sounds of a 12-pound ball rolling fatefully toward two handfuls of white pins, followed by the thunderous crash when the two meet is music to some people's ears. Loving laughter from friends after a misguided bowling ball misses its targets completely and rolls pitifully down the gutter is also melodious, some say. Soulful crooning, or lively off-tune belting, inspired by a top 40 tune and a scrolling screen of lyrics is some people's version of a live concert.

Lolita Harper COSTA MESA -- Renovation plans for the southern half of the Mesa Verde Shopping Center, where the vintage Kona Lanes neon sign casts an eerie glow on the surrounding abandoned buildings, will replace the landmark bowling alley and nearby ice rink with a new department store. The center, which houses the lively Kona Lanes bowling alley on Harbor Boulevard and the empty Ice Chalet building and movie theater, will lose all three structures to make way for Kohl's retail store, officials said.

The owners of Triangle Square are rebranding the struggling Costa Mesa shopping center as The Triangle, where an upscale restaurant, entertainment and retail will mix with late hours, alcohol sales and a 10-lane bowling alley. Newport Beach-based Greenlaw Partners, with the help of outside finance partners, is attempting to revitalize the commercial complex that has been suffering high tenant vacancies in recent years. The master plan for its project received city approval in March.

Warner Allen Johnson June 22, 1911-June 20, 2009 Born in Eau Claire, Wis., to Ernie Johnson and the former Dora Buchholtz, Warner moved to California as a young man, following the death of his brother, Clare. In 1944, he married Amy Norse, who passed away on June 12, eight days before he did. Through the years, Warner had two stints with Douglas Aircraft, sold grain in the Los Angeles area, owned a bowling alley for a short time, and co-owned the Balboa (Calif.

Danny Moskovits is sort of a news junkie. The BBC feeds him daily reports from all over the world on satellite radio. From plights, to wars, to genocide, these issues pique Moskovits’ interest. If you lived where he does in Newport Beach, Moskovits said you might not care about the current events affecting the helpless. Moskovits does care. He might become a journalist, a foreign correspondent. He wants to tell stories like Brian Steidle, who wrote about the Darfur crisis in Sudan.

Many antique dealers — and antique buyers — view their collectibles as museum pieces, worthy of display but not suitable for everyday use. Shane Brown, the owner of Big Daddy’s Antiques, begs to differ. The veteran dealer, who has operated a warehouse in Los Angeles for 15 years and opened a boutique shop in Corona del Mar this month, offers a number of classic pieces in their original form, but just as often, he takes vintage materials and crafts them into something new. Peruse his shop on East Coast Highway and you’ll find an old European children’s game where players attempt to toss coins into a frog’s mouth, 19th-century Greek olive jars, religious statues and other eye-catching antiques.

The Portabello estate in Corona del Mar carries with it a $75 million price tag, as well as a 50,000-square-foot basement with a bowling alley, grotto and a tunnel to the ocean. It's also paved the way for one of the contractors who helped build the home to become an award winner. Corona del Mar-based Ekedal Masonry and Concrete worked on the basement and was honored this year for the 2007 Best Basement of the Year by the Concrete Foundations Assn. of North America. "It's nice when people recognize your work because it doesn't normally happen," Ekedal said.

Almost a year ago, local real estate agent John McMonigle set a record in the area — he put a Corona del Mar home on the market for $75 million. At the time, the 30,000-square-foot Portabello Estate — "portabello" means "beautiful door" in Italian — was the most expensive property to be listed in Orange County and matched the record for the most expensive residential property in the country. According to the Forbes list of most expensive homes in the world, the Portabello would tie for the No. 2 spot with a sprawling home on 60 acres in Bridgehampton, N.Y. But what the Portabello is missing in acreage — the Portabello sits on three lots overlooking the Pacific Ocean — it makes up for in amenities, weather, design and construction, McMonigle said during a recent telephone interview.

I have watched the steady deterioration of Triangle Square from its inception. I believe that the problem has always been that the movie theater has never been, by itself, a strong enough attraction for young people. There are many movie theaters not far away that exist in a far more exciting ambience of restaurants and shopping. I believe that Triangle Square cannot compete with them directly. Rather, I think that Triangle Square needs to become a destination center for young people seeking entertainment of a more active nature.

For years, there has been too much hoping and not enough action at Triangle Square. There was hope a year ago when Edwards Theater announced it would remain at the Costa Mesa shopping center, which has been troubled by low occupancy, poor parking, bad traffic and a certain lack of buzz since it opened in 1992. There was hope in 2003 when the investment group behind the center announced plans to fill all the empty store fronts. There's been hope that the Yardhouse and Sutra Lounge would signal a change of tenor, a dash of electricity, a certain something to get the center full and rolling.

Are there family- or kid-oriented businesses that you think would be good additions to a renewed Triangle Square? What we need is a place where the whole family can shop and be entertained. We don't need any more trendy bars and nightclubs. Everyone loves to shop at the Irvine Co.'s Spectrum Center, with its chic stores and restaurants, or at Fashion Island with its friendly ambience and interactive fountains and opportunities for relaxing in the comfy outdoor furniture.

Losing Kona Lanes brings bittersweet feelings to many who have considered the local bowling alley as one of the time-honored treasures which has been shared over the years. When I arrived at the Pilot in January of 1964 as a "stringer," perhaps best described as a "part-timer," one of the hot topics of the day was Kona's general manager, Dick Stoeffler, who had recently bowled back-to-back 300s competitively on Kona's lanes. The feat, coupled with Stoeffler's accommodating personality, gave the bowling alley a magical aura.