This column comes from Jim McConnell and he writes about former Pasadena great Irv Noren who played for the New York Yankees among other Major League teams. I started reading the lead while I was on the phone and put on hold, and I couldn’t stop reading. It’s a good treat.
JIM McCONNELL
Irv Noren knew his hometown had changed. But this much?
“Recently, I was driving down Washington there in Pasadena with my wife and daughter, and we passed by the place where my parents’ bakery used to be,” Noren said. “I looked at the sign in the window and I thought it said `Lesbian Bakery.’
” `No dad,’ ” my daughter said.
” `That’s Lebanese Bakery.’
“Still, the ways things change these days, you never know.”
Noren, 84, lives in Oceanside these days, but he well remembers Pasadena. And Pasadena remembers him.
You may not be old enough to recall Noren’s glory days as a baseball and basketball star at Pasadena High or his days as a major leaguer. But many is the local who enjoyed life at Irv Noren Lanes.
The ultra-posh bowling alley – actually, palace probably is a better choice of noun – opened in November of 1957. At the time, the site on Foothill Boulevard just west of Rosemead Boulevard was relatively undeveloped.
“Originally, I got the idea to open a bowling alley from Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra when I was on the Yankees,” Noren said. “They got together and opened one back in New Jersey and, like everything Yogi got involved with, it made money.
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“So it seemed like a good idea to me. I liked the site there on Foothill – the land was owned by a couple guys who also were part of the ownership group of the Rams – and I felt there was a real demand for a first-class facility here in town. Bowling was really taking off back then as a family sport.”
Irv Noren Lanes eventually cost more than $1 million to build and featured a Polynesian motif.
It had 32 lanes, making it one of the largest bowling alleys in the Southland. It also had a coffee shop, two bars, a baby-sitting room, a lounge and a billiards room. And, oh yes, an indoor waterfall.
“I was very proud of that place,” Noren said. “When something’s got your name on it, you want it to be good.”
On the occasion of the grand opening, no less a personage than Walter O’Malley was in attendance. There also was Casey Stengel, Les Richter of the Rams, Indy 500 champion Troy Ruttman and world welterweight champion Carmen Basilio.
“We got Sam Balter and Gil Stratton to emcee the event,” Noren said. “I got Manny Pineda to handle publicity for the event, and he did a bang-up job because we had a huge crowd turn up.
“I don’t know about anybody else, but I had a ball that day. I believe Stengel was just about the first to arrive and the last to leave. We couldn’t shut him up.”
Noren maintained part-ownership of the lanes until 1963.
“I was still in baseball then, out traveling 7-8 months of the year, and it was hard to run the place as an absentee owner,” he said. “We had about 75 employees, good people, but it seemed like there were always problems that needed attention, especially with the coffee shop and bar operations.
“The place was making money. Even with shoe rentals at 15 cents a pair we were making money. But it really needed an on-site owner.
“So, when my partner Jimmy Thomas wanted to sell, I went along with it. Initially, I put in about $35,000 of my own money. Well, when we sold I got that back about 12 times over. So it was a good investment.
“It was a little sad when the new owners changed the name from Irv Noren Lanes to Bahama Lanes. But considering the price I got to sell, I sure couldn’t complain.”
Noren remembers when Irv Noren Lanes was going strong, there also were first-class bowling alleys in San Gabriel, Arcadia, Azusa and Covina.
“Bowling was very popular back then,” Noren said. “Why it isn’t as popular now I don’t really know. We always tried to keep a family atmosphere at our place. We would hire off-duty police officers like Ray Bartlett to do security.
“Anyway, a couple years ago I went back to see Bahama Lanes and the place was in really bad shape. I kind of figured it was going to close.
“Then, last year, I drove by the site and there was construction going on and I just assumed that they were tearing the old place down.
“Turns out, they are renovating it. It is going to re-open as the AMF Pasadena 300 Lanes.
“So I went back up there a couple weeks ago and had the construction foreman give me a tour. It’s going to be a real nice place.
“Everything is new except a couple walls. The city made the developer keep those, because they still have the sea shells we imported from the Bahamas embedded in the walls.
“Other than that, the only original things left are the lanes and the ball returns. Those still say `Irv Noren Lanes.’ Guess they always will.
“So if you go bowling there and look down and wonder who the hell is Irv Noren, well, that’s little ol’ me.”
jim.mcconnell@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2383
