The heyday of bowling alleys in Southern California is the subject of a new book. Author Chris Nichols gives all credit to Covina Bowl, his family’s favored bowling center of the 1980s. “I loved it so much,” says Nichols, 53, who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley.
“I spent so many childhood milestones there.” Nichols organized a 60th anniversary party in 2016 for Covina Bowl. ( I was there .
) After the last pin fell in 2017, he was among those who successfully advocated for declaring the building a local landmark and for retaining its 60-foot sign and dramatic exterior as part of a housing development, about which I wrote in January . “It’s been beautifully restored. The character-defining features were saved,” Nichols exults.
A fan and scholar of midcentury modern architecture, Nichols joined the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Modern Committee in 1988, when he was a lad of 17. Classic coffee shops are one interest. Disneyland is another.
Bowling alleys rate highly with him too. He organized a 2014 exhibit at L.A.
’s Architecture + Design Museum titled “Bowlarama: California Bowling Architecture 1954-1964,” which highlighted the swooping rooflines, towering signs and glass-fronted coffee shops of the Jet Age era. I was there for that too. Apparently I am the Tom Joad of bowling.
That groundwork informs “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling,” by Nichols with co-author Adriene Biondo, newly published by Angel City Press. I went to the launch .