Openings, closings, bowling and hunting for pastina

PITTSFIELD — Comings and goings, openings and closings occur all the time in the business world.

For some reason a great deal of that activity has taken place in the Berkshires at the beginning of this year.

Recent and upcoming closures include the Movieplex 8 cinema complex in North Adams; the Cantina 229 Restaurant in New Marlborough; Bed Bath & Beyond’s Berkshire County store in Pittsfield; and Berkshire Organics food delivery service in Pittsfield. Wayfair announced that it would be closing its once highly touted call center in Pittsfield when the lease runs out in July. Shire City Herbals went out of business last summer, but its former warehouse in Pittsfield was sold at a foreclosure auction Feb. 1. That decision also affected the operations of two other businesses that served as tenants, Berkshire Organics, and Hosta Hill, which has moved its operations to Hudson, N.Y.

That’s a lot of activity in a little over a month. But those closures and sales are matched by these announcements.

New owners are in the process of purchasing the former Powder Hounds Restaurant & Tavern next to Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock; there’s a new breakfast spot, Three Sisters Harvest Cafe, opening at the VFW in Great Barrington; and Main Street Hospitality has taken on management responsibilities for two additional lodging establishments outside of the Berkshires, including one in Canada. A couple from Lanesborough recently reopened a venerable Adams watering hole as Red’s Viking Pub, which they describe as a “neighborhood pub for adults.” The long awaited Hot Plate Brewing Co. also recently began operations in downtown Pittsfield. Separate stories on many of these events can be found in this month’s Berkshire Business Journal.

And then there’s one more. The Mathes family of Pittsfield, a group that loves bowling, is looking to revive the sport in the city after purchasing the former Imperial Bowling Center in Pittsfield and converting it into a tenpin facility that will be known as K&M Bowling and Family Fun Center.

Of all the recent transactions that have occurred, I think reopening a bowling alley in Pittsfield is the most important because it will affect the greatest number of people. As someone who used to type weekly bowling scores into The Eagle when I was a sportswriter back in the 1990s — a task that often took over an hour (this was before the internet, kids) I can tell you that the sport is very popular around here. This will be the first tenpin facility in the city since Ken’s Bowl closed three years ago. There hasn’t been bowling period in the city since Imperial Bowling Center was sold in November. I’m sure there’s a lot of pent-up demand. The Mathes family deserves a lot of credit for working on what they consider to be a dream project. As of January, they’d spent close to $2 million on renovating the old alley and converting it from candlepin bowling to a tenpin lane.

I talked to the family members about their goals and aspirations for a story that was published in The Berkshire Eagle in January. When I was there I found out that the bowling alley had originally been constructed as a roller skating rink when it was built in 1952. Pieces of the original floor could be seen while the renovations were taking place. Believe it or not, it took only $125,000 to build and equip Broyles Arena, as the roller rink was originally known, 71 years ago, according to Eagle archives. It’s not a fancy building. The Eagle has referred to it in the past as a both a “prefabricated steel structure” in 1952 and as a “quonset hut in an Allendale cow pasture” in 1987, the year it became a bowling alley. But function often trumps beauty and this building has persevered. I hope this project succeeds. The Mathes’ have put a lot of heart, soul and sweat equity into their venture. They did a lot of the renovations themselves. This is definitely a place that will be worth checking out.

• First it was toilet paper that was in short supply then it was gas. Now it’s pastina. What’s pastina? It’s a tiny starshaped pasta (it literally means “little pasta” in Italian), the smallest type of pasta produced. It can be used in many different ways in Italian cuisine. It’s considered a great comfort food, and it’s suddenly become an essential staple because of that. “Good Morning America” recently did a segment on pastina because it’s so in demand. The day I wrote this a 12-ounce box of pastina was being offered for $16.99 on Ebay. A small box of Barilla pastina, the brand that was featured in the “GMA” piece, costs less than $2 in the supermarket. At least that’s what I paid for it when I finally found it.

I know this firsthand because at my wife’s request I spent a recent Saturday afternoon cruising Pittsfield’s big chain supermarkets in search of the elusive little bugger. Everywhere I went it was sold out. It wasn’t until the next week that I finally found it, where I won’t say. When I did find it, there were only five boxes left, all tucked in tight against boxes of orzo, another small box pasta. I was glad I found them. I hope others have found them, too.

The Mathes family of Pittsfield recently purchased the former Imperial Bowling Center and plans to reopen it as a tenpin facility known as K&M Bowling.