FEATURE

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE WINE

In Sonoma, the updated Windsor Bowling Center serves the community By Evan Henerson

E

ven the famous California wine country can use a non-vinorelated diversion. Thanks to a top-to-bottom overhaul of the facility and the addition of blacklight golfing and escape rooms, the Windsor Bowling Center has become that diversion, and then some. James Pattison envisioned a family-friendly bowling mecca when the opportunity arose for him to purchase the rundown former bowling center on Conde Lane in the picturesque community of Windsor which is located in the heart of Sonoma County. The 2000s were heading to a close when the purchase was finalized, and the first phase of the center’s overhaul was the renovation of the downstairs, complete with the installation of new lanes, new carpet, and new scoring monitors. Pattison waited out the recession to take the center to the next level. For phase two, his focus turned to the 6,000 square feet of unused space

14

IBI

September 2019

on the second floor. Windsor Bowling Center added blacklight miniature golf, a pair of escape rooms, and a party room. Cosmic “rock and glow” bowling has made a return. James Cameron’s hit movie Avatar became the backdrop for the mini-golf design handled by Creative Works, and a new elevator was installed to make everything fully accessible. The cost of the two phases came to about $1.2 million, according to Pattison. “The building was built in the mid 1980s, and it’s kind of hard to believe that they never did anything with the upstairs,” said Pattison, who did a lot of the work himself to help bring down the costs. “When I bought it, it was old with a lot of the same décor from the 1980s – wood paneling on the walls and stuff like that. We took all that out, sheetrocked and painted it with nice family entertainment colors to freshen it all up and make it presentable. That alone made a huge difference.”