Ball Square bowling alley

[ron_newman]

Has anyone here ever been inside the Ball Square bowling alley? It's on Boston Avenue, on the Medford side of the square. When I've occasionally walked by it, it never seemed to be open, and no hours were posted on the door. It is not listed under "Bowling" in the Verizon or Yellow Book directories. When I call its phone number, (781) 306-0716, I hear one or two rings followed by silence (not even a click).

Is this place actually open? If so, when?

Comments

[georgy.livejournal.com]

OK, I wrote for The Somerville News (dodgy in its own right) a couple of years ago, and I decided to do a story about the bowling alleys of Somerville. So I went to the Ball Sq. lanes and tried to talk to people.

Everyone in there was smoking and drinking beer. It was a very rowdy, working class environment, and I -- as an outsider -- was eyed very suspiciously. And yes, I was told that it was league-only.

I talked to a guy who was "in charge," and I got the dodgiest of answers from him... he wouldn't tell me anything about the guy who owned the alley/ran the leagues, even his name, and he sure wouldn't give me any contact info. I couldn't get a straight answer from him. The whole thing was sketchy beyond belief. Maybe it's a mob front, who knows (much like I and a friend speculate the former Mitchell's Convenient Store in Ball Sq. was). But yeah, sketch central.

[georgy.livejournal.com]

It should be noted that my story fell apart due to said sketchiness and some other external reasons, and was never published. Alas.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Why do you speculate Mitchell's was a mob front? I went there many times to buy cold cuts or whatever and never saw anything sketchy (other than an occasional jar of mayonnaise past its expiration date).

[georgy.livejournal.com]

- rarely open with any sort of regularity in hours
- no customers, yet it stayed open for a good long while
- low shelves, dusty stock, etc.

This is mostly joking speculation, but, who knows. :-)

[ceo]

A friend who lives above it told me that "convenient" in this case meant "when it's convenient for the owner". Which apparently was noon to 2pm on alternate Thursdays in months ending in Y.

Now it's "Salon Cu". Because the thing Ball Square needed most was another hair salon.

[ron_newman]

From your story and plumtreeblossom's, sounds like at the very least they do not like women walking into their establishment.

The True Grounds calendar page says:

Interested in getting some exercise before the big winter? Leagues are still open at the Ball Square Bowling alley behind True Grounds! Leagues open are Weds/Thurs/Fri nights. Contact: Charlie

However, this calendar page hasn't been updated since November. (What's up with that?)