Elitch Lanes, the 63-year-old bowling alley at 3825 Tennyson St., will host its last bowlers on May 17 when the lease on the historic building runs out.
Business owner Cal Eichinger, who’s owned the kitschy place for 13 years and has been in the bowling biz for 40 years, said he wasn’t surprised when land owner Littleton Capital Partners declined to renew the lease.
With Denver’s land values hitting record highs, Eichinger figured that the landlord can sell the site for beau coup bucks or lease it to a tenant with deeper pockets. An e-mail and phone call to Littleton Capital Partners were not returned.
The building housing the bowling alley was built around 1900 as a trolley turn-around structure that was later converted to a coal barn, Eichinger said. It was part of the original Elitch Gardens amusement park and performing arts center location on West 38th. The Gardens moved, but the Lanes didn’t.
Eichinger said he’s been notifying the regulars little by little. “Some of the seniors are so bummed out,” he said.
But there’s a chance that Elitch Lanes will roll on in a new venue. Eichinger, who owns the name Elitch Lanes, said he’s meeting with another land owner today to discuss taking over an existing bowling alley 4.4 miles (he wouldn’t say which direction) from the existing business, which likely will take him to the ‘burbs.
“This center is so unique, I’ve never been anywhere like it,” said Eichinger who’s worked in and visited roughly 100 bowling alleys. “Our customer base is so cool — it’s a true cross-section of ages and ethnicities.”
To thank that customer base, Eichinger said he and his crew will throw a big exit bash around the May 17 closing date.
The 63-year-old Elitch Lanes in northwest Denver will close on May 17. (Elitch Lanes photos)
owner of the 63-year-old Elitch Lanes bowling alley at 3825 Tennyson St. wasn’t totally surprised when the building’s landlord declined to renew the lease on the expensive piece of land.
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