Perfect games, lifelong passions: Windsor ends 100 years of five-pin bowling (2024)

There have been countless great nights, and a few perfect ones.

Built in 1946, the Playdium Lanes five-pin bowling alley has stood as a treasured oasis and symbol of friendship, family, and community for generations of Windsorites. It is scheduled to close forever on May 31.

Article content

With that comes the end of Windsor’s century-long relationship with a uniquely Canadian pastime and its treasured traditions, from leisurely family outings to chasing the elusive perfect game.

Article content

The Playdium is the last standing five-pin bowling alley in a city where people have played the sport since at least 1924.

Randy Szucki, the last bowler to score a coveted perfect game there 20 years ago, can trace all the most cherished things in his life back to Playdium Lanes.

“The word ‘everything’ comes to mind,” said Szucki, his voice cracking as he considers the demise of his beloved lifelong second home.

“For 50 of my 60 years, I’ve been going there. I met my wife at the bowling alley. I started bowling there when I was 10 years old. I worked there. Two of my kids still work there. Many of my lifelong friends have been from there.”

Five-pin bowling is a Canadian invention, and has remained largely isolated to this country since its inception in 1909.

Thomas Ryan developed the sport at his private members’ Toronto Bowling Club. It was the first 10-pin operation in Canada, but the delicate, genteel clientele complained the balls were too hefty.

“The 10-pin ball was too heavy for the type of person I had induced to bowl,” Ryan reportedly said. “Some hadn’t used their muscles in years. They’d bowl one or two games, then play bridge in my office while I supplied adhesive tape for their thumbs.”

Article content

He whittled down the traditional tenpins, introduced hand-sized hard rubber balls, and developed a new scoring system.

Windsor’s first five-pin venue was the pragmaticallynamed Recreation Building, which opened Nov. 27, 1924, on Pitt Street East.

The Border Cities Star — the Windsor Star’s predecessor — reported that the entire third floor of the new facility would be devoted “to alleys for women bowlers and for men who prefer the five-pin game.”

“In eastern Canada, the five-pin rivals the 10-pin game in popularity. That latter has been almost the only game played on local alleys in the past.”

A month later, Windsor’s daily newspaper reported that the “five pin rage” was “taking a grip on young women in cities.

“The ladies today are taking an unprecedented interest in bowling particularly five pins,” the Border Cities Star reported on Dec. 19, 1924. “Not only are they found in ever-increasing numbers on the alleys here, but all the cities throughout Eastern Canada report a large following of the fairer sex.”

Thanks in part to the sport’s new variation, which quickly became more popular than the traditional 10-pin at some alleys,Windsor blossomed into a bowling hotspot.

Article content

The Wyandotte Recreation Hall, which opened in 1929, was another early option for five-pin fans. It was the first place in Windsor to host a five-pin league for blind people, something the Playdium still offers.

It wasn’t long before the Border Cities Star was publishing scores, standings, and stories about multiple five-pin leagues in Windsor, Amherstburg, and elsewhere.

The sport was so popular that the Windsor Daily Star, as the paper came to be known by 1935, published a regular column called The Eleventh Frame by sportswriter Joe Burns.

In a story published Dec. 23, 1944, the paper declared that about 10,000 local bowlers rolled an average of three games every week.

“And if that doesn’t make Windsor the bowling capital of Canada, we’ll eat the rubber bands off a set of fivepins.”

In the midst of that surging popularity, the Playdium had its grand opening on Sept. 19, 1946, at the corner of Wyandotte Street East and Raymo Road. It has stood there as a neighbourhood fixture and gathering place ever since.

Built for $125,000, it was touted as Windsor’s “most modern bowling academy” with high-tech highlights such as air-conditioning and a public address system.

Article content

Now solely a five-pin operation, it initially also offered 10-pin and duckpin bowling.

“You didn’t have mechanical pinsetters back then,” said Playdium co-owner and manager Mariano Meconi, who has been running the family business for 44 years. “So with pin boys at the back, you could set whatever game you wanted.”

The pin boys were replaced with machines in the early 1960s, but everything else about the place still oozes retro vibes. And they’re not pretending.

While Nancy Sinatra and Buddy Holly flow from the overhead speakers, some of the balls rumbling down the lanes are rare 1950s originals.

“Not many of those left anywhere,” Meconi said as he sent one down Lane Five.

Even the Playdium’s originalmaple and pine lane beds are still there, though they lie beneath laminate installed in 2003.

The still-pristine concessions counter, with round diner-style blue and silver stools, was installed during the last major renovation in 1986.

The computerized scoring machines,squarish and dull grey with glowing monochrome monitors, were introduced in 1996. Before that, it was manual scoring.

Article content

The changes all occurred under Meconi, who also grew up in the Playdium’s embrace.

His aunt and uncle bought the business in 1964, when he was eight years old. He took charge in 1980, and even lived in a second-floor apartment above the lanes for 10 years.

“Prior to the ’80s when I took over, there were a number of five-pin centres in this town,” Meconi, 68, told the Star. “There was the Windsor Recreation downtown on Pitt Street. There was the Parkview on Ottawa Street. There was Campus Lanes out near the university.

“But when I took over in 1980, there was just Playdium and Parkview. Windsor Rec had just burned down. So we inherited a bunch of their players. Between the two centres we were pretty busy for a long time.”

Parkviewclosed around 2005, leaving only the Playdium.

“I’m doing it 44 years,” said Meconi. “I’ve been thinking about retiring, but never listed it on the market.”

A few months ago, someone walked through the door and made him an offer. Meconi wouldn’t reveal who it was or what their intentionsare, except that it doesn’t involve bowling.

He said a group has expressed interest in taking his equipment for future installation at another location, though that is far from a sure thing.

Article content

The sale of the Playdium had yet to officially close earlier this month, but Meconi plans to cease operations on May 31.

It’s a retirement. Not a celebration.

“It’s been a nightmare for me,” said Meconi. “I tend to lose it a little bit emotionally when I’m talking about it. It’s someplace I look forward to coming to.”

The hardest part was breaking the news to everyone else: the parents and grandparents who have been coming here since they were kids; the 80-member youth league; the Special Olympics teams.

“I was afraid to tell them,” said Meconi. “It’s been a lifelong home for some of these guys. I hate to interfere with that, but I ain’t gonna live forever.

“They grew up in the youth program here and continued through their adult lives. I was 24 years old and having guys that were 16, 17, 18 working for me. And those are the guys that are big shooters today.”

For many people who work and play at the Playdium, Meconi and his spunky little 10-lane bowling alley have been central to their lives, for most of their lives.

“I understand he needs to retire,” said employee Rose Rossini, 70, who first walked through the doors at age 15.

Article content

“I’m just not ready. I just want to thank him for everything he’s given me. The kindest, most wonderful man. He’s like family to me. Like a brother. Never had a bad day with him.”

Rossini started coming to the Playdium in 1969 to help her mom, who also worked there. Her own bowling career began 51 years ago, and she’s still throwing strikes.

“Not as often as I used to, but I’m still here and I can still throw the ball,” said Rossini, who plays in Windsor’s Little River league at Playdium.

Meconi hired her full-timein 1986. Forfive days a week ever since, shehas been unlocking the doors, firing up the lane lights, and soaking in the smiles of countless bowlers.

“Some days it was six days a week,” Rossini said from behind the counter she has overseen for 38 years. “I really looked forward to it. I couldn’t get enough. If I could have worked seven days, I would have.”

Thinking about the end of five-pin bowling in Windsor brings smiles and tears at once.

“I can honestly say these are the best years — plus my marriage, of course,” said Rossini, lifting her glasses to wipe her eyes. “We had lots of fun. I have memories every day.”

Article content

Every regular has a favourite memory.

But Szucki’s stirsenvy in them all.

It was May 7, 2004. Friday night. The last tournament of the season. The night of his perfect game.

Before him, the last person to score a perfect game at the Playdium was Rick Soulliere, in 1986.

“I’m going down in history,” said Szucki.

A perfect score in five-pin bowling is 450, requiring 12 consecutive strikes. It’s rare compared to 10-pin bowling, which some consider an easier game.

“I had a little get-together before, so I’d had a couple wobbly pops,” said Szucki, whose team wasn’t in contention. “Went in kind of unsuspecting.”

Around the seventh frame, it suddenly dawned on him he might have been throwing a stream of steady strikes. He couldn’t quite recall.

“I wasn’t even paying attention,” he said. “But the reaction after the eighth one, my teammates all yelled and screamed. Okay, I think I’ve got them all.”

He started paying attention.

“Then throwing the last one, I remember before I got set I was thinking, ‘You’ve been dreaming about this for 30 years — just do it,’” said Szucki.

He lined the ball up and let loose. It was a close one. Szucki admits he might have got lucky.

Article content

“It was a wobbly corner that went down at the end,” said Szucki. “But it was extremely special.”

He’ll never forget that victorious moment. But once-in-a-lifetime achievements were never necessary to make magical nights at the Playdium. Every frame, every moment was special.

“It was just a homeyplace where you would walk in and feel welcome all the time,” said Szucki. “It was awesome. I’m very glad that I had the experience I did there.

“I just thank everybody who has ever come into the place because I either know you and you’re my friend or I know you anyway. It’s going to be missed.”

twilhelm@postmedia.com

Article content