by Westside News staff
What a difference a few days can make.
Brockport Bowl, a recreational cornerstone in the village of Brockport for six decades, had been closed for less than a week when new interest in ownership arose.
Don Tadio, a former Brockport resident who owns the property, informed Suburban News/The Herald on June 19 that he agreed to a deal with Joe and Barb Parker of Hamlin who are now the new proprietors at the 16-lane bowling center.
Tadio, a property management executive whose family built the center in 1955, had leased the establishment to Ray Bardol for the past 18 years. When the two could not agree to terms on a new lease after months of discussion, Bardol opted to retire from the business earlier than he had planned.
“It was unfortunate that Don and Ray could not come to an agreement. It caught many of us off guard at the Hall of Fame dinner when Ray announced his retirement at the end of his induction speech,” said Rochester USBC Bowling Association president Mike Callan. “Then a few days later our association was very pleased to hear the news that the center will remain open and that Joe Parker is involved… Joe is one of our association’s board members. Not only is this good for our association’s league bowlers, but for the entire Brockport community.”
Many avid Rochester bowlers immediately assumed Brockport Bowl would suffer the same plight as other popular area centers that have closed – Olympic Bowl, North Park Lanes, Maiden Lanes and West Ridge Lanes (the old Lyon’s Den) to name a few – all of which had been knocked down months after closing.
Tadio was not about to let that happen at 4660 Lake Road.
“We needed to keep the center open for the Brockport community,” he said emphatically.
Brockport residents were obviously saddened by the initial closing. A party was held at the beginning of the month to celebrate the memories with many of its long-time customers. Then just days after the June 15 “closing,” one couple got in touch with Tadio about purchasing the business.
“Brockport Bowl has special meaning for us,” said Barb Parker. “Joe and I first met there on a blind date in 2001. We have both bowled there for years.”
“And I worked for Ray for a while … bartending, as a mechanic, just about everything,” Joe said. Then he paused and said, “I have always dreamed of having my own bowling center.”
“Joe’s a very enthusiastic, experienced businessman and I’m sure the bowlers in the community will be well served by them,” Tadio continued.
Joe also owns Parker Brothers Mechanical, a Heating & Cooling company which he plans to continue managing. Barb is employed at Chili Vision Group, handling the medical billing.
Tadio, whose late father Dominic ran the center for many years, has some exciting news for customers.
“Of course the biggest news is that the center is not closed,” he reiterated, “but we are also excited to announce that the center is scheduled to have new automatic scoring and synthetic lanes installed. Customers will be able to see everything when we have our ‘Grand Re-Opening’ prior to the fall league season.”
Automatic scoring already exists at the center, but an improved version is in the planning, said Tadio.
The wood lanes currently at Brockport Bowl are the ones that were installed when the center was originally built. After sixty years of wear and dozens of resurfacing procedures to bring the lanes to “required league and tournament specifications” they now have limited life. The transition will be made to synthetic lanes, which are manufactured in large sections and harder, thus much more durable, than wood lanes.
The Parkers hope to have the center open by early August.
“We will be closed for the installations and there is some painting to do as well,” Joe said.
“Our goal is to retain the 300-plus league bowlers, continue the relationship with the Brockport Central School District and be the practice center for their new High School bowling teams that have been approved to start in the fall,” he specified. “There is also The College at Brockport which has special bowling sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.”
“We hope to bring back the youth bowling program as well … which would make our 9-year-old son Trevor pretty happy. My two oldest spent many years bowling at Brockport. Alexis, who is 18, is graduating from the high school and Kaitlyn, who will be 21 in July, now lives in Florida,” he continued. “Trevor and Alexis bowled in travel leagues for AMF Dewey Garden Lanes this past year.”
And Joe knows the sport quite well, having rolled ten 300 games, ten 800 series’ and carries an average just above the 225 mark in his scratch leagues.
When one door closes, another opens. Bardol said that he will assist his son Chris with his new restaurant and party house, The North Pole, which is located in Batavia. Last weekend they were promoting the new business at the Batavia Muckdogs minor league baseball game.
