Wrecker's Ball Bowling

We always prefer to make posts BEFORE something gets demolished.  In this case, everything happened very quickly, and a much smaller number of persons, this time around, would have felt strongly enough to support the preservation option.

The building in question is seen below.  It was built, except for the rearmost part, in 1892 on the northeast corner of West 25th/Pearl and Selzer for a person named Adam Beckley.  This would place it in what is today the Brooklyn Centre Historic District [National Register].  That construction date indicates that it was built while this neighborhood was still Brooklyn Village. [The brick storefront was a later alteration.]

December 2018

The construction time of the rearmost part was reportedly 1911.  For many persons, this nondescript addition was the most significant part of the structure. This addition's purpose was to hold six bowling lanes inside of it, which were in use as such for several decades.  A good number of years ago, the American Bowling Congress certified them to be the oldest active bowling lanes in Ohio and the third oldest active bowling lanes in the entire country.  For many years they were known as Brown's Lanes.

The Brooklyn Centre neighborhood has been experiencing decline in recent years and, consequently, this building became fully unoccupied.

The southeast corner of this intersection is undergoing significant redevelopment.  Apparently, that made the corner with the Beckley/Brown Building appealing for its own re-development.  This, of course, unfortunately, as is usually the case, meant that the corner was appealing -- not the building.
The building was demolished in December of 2019.