Byline: Mark Johnson
Aug. 3--GLENDALE, Wis. -- Bob Greenfield was 10 years old, and too small to excel in basketball or football, when he rolled his first game at Echo Bowl.
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
At 13, he was performing odd jobs at the Glendale bowling alley, working behind the lanes as a pin chaser, the troubleshooter who fixes the pins when something goes wrong. Today, at 44, he carries the exalted title of 'house pro,' an honorary position.
'I had my 40th birthday there. I had my son's 6th birthday party there. I've been Santa Claus when they had bowling with Santa, probably the first Jewish 'Bowling Santa,' ' Greenfield said.
He was one of many loyal patrons who expressed sadness this week at the impending sale of the family-run bowling alley, one of a vanishing breed. Walgreen Co. plans to build one of its pharmacies on the site, at 5400 N. Port Washington Road.
In its 48 years, Echo Bowl wasn't just a place where league teams bowled and friends gathered to watch Packers games, but somewhere couples went on first dates and, on occasion, even married. Parents held their children's birthday parties there using bumpers to spare kids the frustration of a gutter ball; often there were 15 to 20 birthday parties per weekend.
On Friday nights, the faithful gathered for Thunder Alley, which mixed bowling with a rock 'n' roll club, complete with disc jockey, fog machine and light show.
'Some of these people would come back week after week after week,' said Randy McLees, a part-time bartender at Echo Bowl for 23 years. 'I've gotten invited to kids' weddings who came to rock and bowl . . . I just feel bad. There's not many places for kids to go. What are kids going to do in Glendale, hang around the mall?'
Walgreen has made an offer to purchase the Echo Bowl property, and the deal is almost certain to go through based on the approval of Glendale officials, said Donald Hildebrand, president of Echo Bowl. Glendale's seven-member Plan Commission approved a conditional use permit for the store Wednesday night.
Hildebrand would not reveal how much money Walgreen offered but said of the offer: 'It was good and it was right. This wasn't something we were looking to do.'
Walgreen wants to raze the bowling alley and build a 14,000-square-foot pharmacy with drive-through service to replace its pharmacy in Bayshore Mall. Construction likely would begin in September, and the new pharmacy would be finished and ready for occupancy by the end of March or early April.
Redmond Commercial Development, contractor for the project, would not comment. Glendale City Administrator Richard Maslowski said the pharmacy will employ about 35 people.
Echo Bowl employs 43 workers during the peak winter season and around 25 during the slower summer months.
From the day it opened in 1956, the bowling alley was a family business, the kind of place that is going the way of the old team shirts with the bowlers' names stitched on them.
Frank Prasnikar built Echo Bowl for his daughters, Kathy Zappia and Krista Hildebrand, who is married to Donald. The two sisters remain co-owners of Echo Bowl.
Nancy Hildebrand, Donald's mother, worked at the reception desk of Echo Bowl for many years. Everyone called her Ma.
Donald and Krista Hildebrand's four children all worked for the bowling alley at one time or another, as did Zappia's two children.
'Echo is really full of personality and mojo,' Greenfield said. 'It just has a feel to it. It's kind of like 'Cheers' a little bit.'
The alley started with 16 lanes and added another eight in 1961, just in time for the bowling boom.
'In the 1960s and 1970s, they built bowling alleys like there was no end -- like they built service stations. They overbuilt,' said Don Janke, executive director of the Greater Milwaukee Bowling Association, which represents 10,200 sanctioned bowlers and 330 leagues.
During its heyday, the association had about 60 bowling alleys. Today it's down to 33, including Echo Bowl.
Janke said the number of bowlers locally has been dropping 2 percent or 3 percent a year, not only here but nationwide.
'All of a sudden, families had so many other things to do,' he said, citing the rise of youth sports and especially sports for girls. 'The parents no longer have the free nights.'
Janke said he'd hate to see Echo Bowl go, adding: 'They've been a persistent supporter of league bowling and tournament bowling.'
With the new bowling season just three weeks away, the leagues that used Echo Bowl may have to scramble to find new locations.
For some, the bowling alley held associations that went much deeper than sports. David Whitcomb's first date with his future wife, Carla Durand, ended at Echo Bowl. It was 11 years ago, and they both worked for the gas company. They had just finished dinner and Whitcomb did not want the night to end.
'I'm trying to think of something to do,' he said. 'I asked, 'Do you want to shoot pool, maybe go bowling?' '
Echo Bowl had a pool table in addition to bowling. Plus, Whitcomb had grown up with Donald Hildebrand, playing football together on their eighth-grade team. That night at Echo Bowl, Durand promptly defeated her future husband -- at pool. Later Whitcomb would get her involved in league bowling.
They married nine years ago and have bowled in a league together for at least five of those years.
'I'm very happy for Don, Krista and Kathy. They've worked very hard,' said Whitcomb, 50. 'But it's an era that's gone.'
'I think it's a shame,' Greenfield said, 'because bowling, especially in the colder weather, offers somewhere for families to go.'
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TICKER SYMBOL(S): WAG
