I spent my time in college working underneath the shadow of a giant bowling pin at Fort Wayne’s Gateway Plaza. Because of that, or maybe in spite of it, I harbor an unlikely appreciation and affinity for supersized sporting goods. Fortunately, Muncie’s home to another giant pin above Clancy’s Village Bowl.
Developed by Joseph Halteman, Muncie’s Country Village Shopping Center opened in stages beginning in 19661. Featuring Early American and Colonial architecture, the plaza was anchored by the Delaware Cinema to the north, which was built in 19672. Three years later, Clint Zavakos announced plans to build a $500,000 bowling alley at the south end of the center.
Zavakos counted Wilford Oswalt and Richard E. Hastings as partners when the Village Bowl opened3. With twenty-five lanes, the alley featured the latest equipment from Brunswick Corporation that included an A-2 Jet Flow return system that shot balls back to bowlers in nine seconds4!
By 1977, Village Bowl was home to the Point After Lounge5. In 1983, the Carolina Room banquet hall opened on the building’s second story6. I went to a wedding there once; it’s a fine venue.
In August 1990, the Gillion family -best known locally for their Clancy’s Car Wash chain- stepped into the bowling business by purchasing the Village Bowl as part of a broader push to expand their footprint in Muncie’s business scene. The sale marked a turning point for owner Clint Zavakos, who was ready to move on and build a new bowling alley elsewhere7. By that time, Village Bowl was no small operation: the sprawling 73,000-square-foot complex housed fifty-six lanes, a pro shop, an arcade, a lounge, and two banquet spaces- the Carolina Room and the smaller Clin-Vac Room8.
As for the giant bowling pin up top? Early aerial imagery is pretty blurry, but I bet it’s original to the building. Unfortunately, it’s showing its age with missing wood and fading paint. Still, one giant bowling pin is better than none, and I’m grateful for it!
Sources Cited
1 Formal Opening (1966, September 11). The Muncie Star. p. 24.
2 First New Theater Here in 30 Years to Be Built (1967, March 1). The Muncie Star. p. 1.
3 Bowling Alley Incorporated (1970, June 26). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 2.
4 New Bowling Alley Planned (1970, April 29). The Muncie Evening Press.
5 Recreation Softball (1977, June 12). The Muncie Star. p. 28.
6 Collier, W. (1983, November 10). Fifth Quarter. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 27.
7 Buck, T. (1990, October 22). Family strikes a deal to purchase Village Bowl. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 14.
8 (See footnote 7).
It seems to me that I may have gone bowling there a time or two when I lived in the area. I wish I remembered the giant bowling pin.