Popular Capital Region Bowling Alley Sold! What’s Coming Next?

I love bowling, but it was difficult to imagine bowling would ever return post-COVID. Combine rented shoes with handling bowling balls and throw in some finger foods on the side? A 2020 nightmare. But thankfully bowling has made a big comeback in the Capital Region in the last year.

If you’ve driven Troy-Schenectady Road through Latham lately, especially during the holidays, you’ve seen the big crowds around Spare Time Family Fun Center. A full parking lot is a great sign for business, but changes are coming after the property sold off the market.

Time For A Change?

Until recently, Spare Time had been owned by Bowl New England, who also goes by the name Spare Time Entertainment. Bowl New England is a Vermont-based company that runs fifteen bowling alleys in ten states. Here in the Capital Region, they also manage Spare Time Clifton Park on Route 9.

Get our free mobile app

The Albany Business Review reports the Latham property sold for around $3 million. For those wondering if the fun will roll on, don’t worry: former bowling alley mechanic turned owner Doug Bohannon is picking up where Bowl New England is leaving off.

Renovations Coming Down The Lane

Bohannon has owned Kingpin’s Alley in Glens Falls since 2013 – a property he also bought from Bowl New England. That’s what prompted the business to reach out to him about his interest in a second set of lanes.

Bohannon already has plans to “modernize and upgrade” Spare Time, though it isn’t continuing under that name because of licensing. The Google listing has already been changed to Kingpin’s Alley Latham. Since taking over the Glens Falls Kingpin’s a decade ago, Bohannan renovated the space and added several escape rooms plus a private karaoke party room.