Ball Square Bowling - Boston.com/Somerville article & photos

[ron_newman]

Boston Globe correspondent Danielle Dreilinger came to our Ball Square Bowling meetup last Saturday and has now published an article about the meetup and the alley:

The bowling alley you never knew. The article says that Green Line construction may threaten the bowling alley with demolition.

There's also an accompanying photo slideshow by Rob Vassegh: A night at the alley, including cool photos of the pin-setting machinery as well as our always photogenic hahathor.

I don't know whether the article will appear in print as well.

Comments

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

What a great article! And pics! I had thought she was just writing for a student paper.

I'm sad to hear that the Green Line is going to displace it, though that seems to keep getting pushed back. Get your bowling parties in now, folks!

[bettyw.livejournal.com]

I don't get the comment about "incomprehensible" score sheets - the only non-standard thing about them is that they are NOT surrounded by ads for local businesses (the usual way alleys pay for getting them printed). But then I'm old enough to have been a kid going bowling in the '60s - hence the sweater in my icon, knit for me by my grandmother... and even then I cursed b/c the pattern books only had 10-pin designs!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

That guy sounds so sad. Stories like that makes me want to FIX things for people, even when it's not possible.

[kenmedford.livejournal.com]

Article probably will appear in Sunday's Globe North section. Those articles typically post to the Web a day or two in advance.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

Here is MassDOT's overall plan for the Ball Sq station. You can see that the station itself is not on the bowling alley footprint, but the platform is situated behind the building.

https://www.commentmgr.com/Projects/1228/docs/043_DEIR-EA_V2_Figure%203.7-18_Ball_Square_Station_Layout.pdf

and

https://www.commentmgr.com/Projects/1228/docs/044_DEIR-EA_V2_Figure%203.7-19_Ball_Square_Station_Plan.pdf

If there is community interest (such as neighbors, architect/planner types, city officials...) in pursuing a way to incorporate the bowling alley in the Green Line plan for Ball Sq., it needs to get mobilized with a concrete proposal. MassDOT will be working on detailed station plans/designs this year, and that includes areas around the stations. Community participation is critical for getting what we want in the Green Line project.