Polo Park Bowling Centre reopens

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2020 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bowling centres in Manitoba are opening for business, but residents are hesitant to hit the lanes.

Brothers Cameron and Pat Boon co-own Polo Park Bowling Centre, a bowling alley located in CF Polo Park. The alley has been around since 1959 but, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pair decided to shut the place down in March, 2020.

Now that they’ve opened back up, their future is in limbo, as their customer base has been slow to return.

Cameron started working at the lanes in 1978, fixing the machines and dealing with customers. He said he and Pat are worried about the future.

“We ran our last league on Tuesday, March 17. Only half (of our paying membership) showed up that night. Wednesday morning, my brother and I had a conversation and we agreed to shut it down,” Cameron said. “It was very sudden, when we had to shut down, not knowing what the future held. Not knowing how much rent we (would) have to pay. If we had to pay every penny of our (commercial) rent when we were closed, we’d be doomed.”

Cameron added that they had several hundred members, bowling in leagues around Winnipeg, that could not finish their season. According to him, bowling leagues in the city have elected to award prizes for whatever they had before the shutdown, or they held their funds with a plan to restart their seasons in September, providing they get the green light from the provincial government.

Polo Park Bowling Centre reopened to the public on June 1. The owners came in early to get the place ready, marking spaces with tape, putting hand sanitizer around the alley and sanitizing everything regularly.

Unfortunately, business has been slow. None of their players have renewed their memberships and they’ve had few walk-in customers.

Pat said losing out on March, April and May was a big hit to their business.

“When we closed during that time of the year, we lost our spring break money. March, April and May are big months for us, that usually floats us through June, July and August. Things slow down around then,” Pat said. “Losing out on those high-income months, that was a big whammy for us.”

Since the shutdown, the brothers have been applying for every government aid program they could find. They have found some relief through the CERB and commercial rent assistance programs, praising the federal government’s approach for supporting small businesses.
While the pair were grateful for the financial aid from the federal government, they were less enthusiastic about the provincial government support.

“The (federal) government has been a big help through all of this. The provincial government, I could not give any kind words about their actions through (COVID-19),” Pat said.

Their mother, Eleanor, began working at Polo Park Bowling Centre in 1970. Pat started doing maintenance work there in 1977, with Cameron joining them in 1978. Their mom saved up enough money to buy the place in 1989, and it’s been in their family ever since.

Their mom retired in June 2017, selling the business to her sons, who took over as co-owners. Cameron is the people person, while Pat works behind the scenes, making sure the whole operation runs smoothly.

Cameron said he’s happy he could make a living in bowling.

“I’ve been a professional bowler since 1982. I’ve won many tournaments and made a lot of money in this game,” Cameron said. “Becoming a professional, and being able to teach and help anyone from a four-year-old kid to a 90-year-old person, it’s everything to me … Just being able to make a living off a sport you love, that’s amazing.”

Polo Park Bowling Centre is open for business.

For more information, visit www.poloparkbowlingcentre.ca