Skyline Lanes Family Bowling Centre in Idaho Falls has recently been bought by Mike Nesbitt, the president of Papa’s Pizza group in Eugene, Oregon.
According to EastIdahoNews.com, the plan is to remodel it and eventually add a pizza parlour and play area inside.
Andy Snider, the new co-owner and general manager of Skyline, said, “Bowling and pizza just seemed like a good business opportunity, so we jumped on it.”
Nesbitt bought the 15,500-square-foot space on 1 April, after Rich Pottorff and his wife, Ylona Benson, closed the bowling alley at the end of February after more than 20 years of operation.
Snider and his assistant manager and co-owner, Billy Taylor, are busy making minor repairs to the interior and working with the previous owners to learn how to run a bowling alley.
Nesbitt says the bowling center will reopen once the governor’s stay-home order is lifted.
“We’re going to open up in the exact same fashion as it was before it closed down. We’re going to be doing burgers, which we’ve never done before, so that’s going to be a learning curve for us,” Snider says.
Major renovations — including adding the pizza parlor and play area — will happen at a later date.
Nesbitt will continue to operate the Oregon locations while Snider and Taylor take charge in Idaho Falls.
Nesbitt says Papa’s Pizza is unlike any other pizza place people in eastern Idaho are used to. The average size of each location is about 10,000-square-feet. It seats up to 400 people and includes a huge play area for kids and an arcade.