Tonight we’re gonna bowl like it’s 1959

It’s getting chilly around Charlotte, which makes it a good time to transition from outdoor exercising activities to indoor ones.

(Or a good excuse for stopping exercising altogether, if you ask me. We mammals will need fat for winter, after all, so pass the chips and dip.)

But if you must keep the blood going in the cold months, what better indoor exercising activity is there than bowling?

In addition to giving birth to tacky new items in American fashion — the bowling shirt and shoes –and requiring barely enough physical exertion to qualify as exercise, the sport ushered in a wave of alley development that rolled across the country, starting most notably in California.

Over there, the kingpin of bowling alleys was Louis Lesser, a Los Angeles businessman considered to be the biggest real estate developer out West, developing more than 60,000 homes and becoming the landlord and developer for Howard Hughes.

Lesser, 95, has been involved in all types of development, from high-rise apartments to hotels. Perhaps his most famous project is Barrington Plaza, a Los Angeles apartment complex that opened in the early ‘60s. The roughly 700-unit project, by the way, would later be approved as a fallout shelter.

It was also in the early ‘60s that Lesser became known as one of the most prolific developers of bowling alleys, throwing up lanes all over California.

While Lesser’s alleys were popping up in the West, it was around that time that Charlotte’s Montford Drive got Park Lanes Bowling Center.

Charlotte-based Ferebee and Walters (known today as The FWA Group) was the architect, and Charlotte-based Myers & Chapman was the contractor. The 32-lane project even caught the eye of Southern Architect magazine, which gave it a spread in its August 1963 issue.

This past April, the property came into the hands of a group of guys who are redeveloping the site: Jamie Muir, Mike Schornivacchi and Adam Williams, known collectively as Montford Bowling Partners. They bought it from bowling champ George Pappas, a right-hander who was inducted into none other than the Professional Bowlers Association’s Hall of Fame in 1986.

Williams won’t share the purchase price or how much the redevelopment will cost.

The plan is to restore Park Lanes to its late ‘50s, early ’60s glory, bringing back architectural trends — like the Googie style — popular at the time and making it look like it did when it first built, Williams said. (Googie sensibilities will be evident in a steel canopy that will run the length of the building, Williams said.)

The 31-year-old Charlotte native is also principal with Legacy Real Estate Advisors.

Williams is not sure, but he suspects that the Park Lanes property is on what was once the Billy Graham farm. The bowling alley site is fairly large — 2.25 acres — and the property has about 200 parking spaces.

Williams said he bowled at Park Lanes when he was a kid.

“Everybody from Charlotte has bowled here when they were 5 or 6 years old,” he said.

Denver-based Gais Construction is working on the redevelopment. Charlotte-based RBA Group is the architect.

Construction is under way, Williams said. Phase I involved ripping out bathrooms, putting in new ones, tackling electrical and HVAC work and adding an elevated outdoor desk. Phase II is just starting and will involve putting up the canopy and overhauling the kitchen, among other things.

The plan for the kitchen — Williams said it will become “state-of-the-art” — is to have it churn out better food. Chef “Boone” Gibson, of barbecue joint Mac’s Speed Shop fame, is helping out with that. A new meat smoker will keep bowlers fed.

There will be three bars to satisfy the imbibing needs of journalists — I mean, bowlers. Two will be indoor and one outdoor. More than 20 craft beers will be served, Williams said.

The overhaul will include new flooring and new audio and video equipment.

There’s a cleaners in the basement, and that is staying, Williams said.

He is keeping some aspects of the project close to the vest. For example, he won’t go into detail about the lounge’s theme.

Work is expected to wrap up around Christmas, and Williams said there might be a soft opening in January.

Fans of Park Lanes can still get their fix while construction takes place; the lanes remain open.

But, Williams warns, “it’s a little dusty in there right now.”

Roberts can be reached at [email protected].