Covina Bowl is one of the area’s granddaddies, built during bowling’s boom in 1956 and still in operation. It just turned 60. Much of the center is original, with flagstone cladding, a 60-foot sign, oddball Egyptian and Polynesian touches and some evidently original lamps.
I’d bowled there a couple of times on a Sunday morning despite the drive. A 60th anniversary party on Feb. 11 drew me back. They had a cake shaped like the building, including the soaring A-frame roof, a sweet touch and an inspiring bit of cake architecture. (Rice Krispies helped.)
After the party, I bowled two games, although I’m not a fan of cosmic bowling, which is what was going on that night. The lanes seemed to be in good condition. The art above the pins depicting a stylized Art Deco skyline was a cute way to dress the place up.
The balls weren’t so hot, though. In my range (10, 11 and 12 pounds), most had too-small holes, and the one I settled for scraped my thumb — waah, waah, waah. There were a lot of 14- and 15-pounders, which tempted me to move up except that my arm might have fallen off.
The scoring system worked fine and the screen graphics were good. After whiffing on the second ball in a frame, the screen showed animated pins guffawing silently at me. Deflating, but I couldn’t help but join them.
Covina Bowl is one block off the main drag, cutting down on its visibility, and you can tell from the enormous footprint, nearly a square block of land, that the pin palace was once a center of community life. These days, not so much, and its days as a bowling alley may be nearing an end. Enjoy Covina Bowl while it lasts.
There are decent places to eat nearby: a Northwoods Inn of a similar vintage, several Mexican restaurants, Capri Deli a couple of miles east and a Norms in a round building (a former Steak Corral “family westaurant”) with an amazing sign that lights up in sequence.
Address: 1060 W. San Bernardino Road, Covina
Number of lanes: 50 (count ’em, 50)
Owner: Brunswick
Year opened: 1956
Architect: Powers, Daly and DeRosa
Neighbors: Home Depot, Mar y Tierra No. 3, Northwoods Inn
Air hockey: Yes (and nine billiard tables)
Bar: Yes
Coffee shop: Closed
Pro shop: Yes
Ambience: Fred and Barney would love it, except for the cosmic bowling
Deal: $2 games and shoes after 6 p.m. Sundays and 8 p.m. Tuesdays
Hours: 10 a.m to 11 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday, 4 to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.
Website: http://www.bowlbrunswick.com/about-us/297/1
