Bowling alley bar to open in Dallas’ Deep Ellum district at end of summer

by Teresa Gubbins

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It'll be modeled after the hipster Brooklyn Bowl, with bowling plus a groovy bar.

DALLAS — An entrepreneur and bowling fan has plans to open a bowling alley in Deep Ellum in the space previously occupied by Uropa, and before that Copper Tank Brewery & Restaurant.

Craig Spivey, whose connection to Deep Ellum goes back to the late '90s when he started Dallaslofts.com, hopes to open Deep Ellum Bowl, a bowling alley-combination-bar, by the end of the summer.

"I have a passion to provide entertainment in the form of a bowling alley in Dallas' Central District," Spivey says. "We're still working on getting financing and funding and capital, but are hoping to open it by mid- to late-summer, maybe July or August."

Arlington recently opened the International Bowling Campus (IBC), a complex that will house an expanded bowling museum and hall of fame, and the suburbs have seen a bounty of bowling spots open in the past couple of years, such as Splitsville and Shenaniganz in Garland.

But, as Spivey puts it, there's been nothing in close-up Dallas. He's modeling it after the ultra-hip Brooklyn Bowl, in Brooklyn's Williamsburg district.

"It'd be a similar concept to Brooklyn Bowl, a bowling bar," he says. "Right now, with the way the economy is, it's a good opportunity for people to go out and have a good inexpensive-entertainment night, and there’s nothing [deep] inside the 635 loop for bowling or family entertainment."

Spivey originally had an eye on the Union Bank Building on Elm Street but wasn't able to persuade property owner Westdale to make it happen there. When the property at the corner of Main and Good Latimer opened up, Spivey, who calls himself a "bowling nut," jumped in.

"I was in the Highland Park Bowling Club, I’ve been a bowling nut my entire life," he says. "I really love the old vintage bags, the ball, the noise, the environment, everything about it."

He's gotten a jump on some of the gear and staff by working with the folks from Big Town Bowling, which sadly closed at the end of December.

"We're working with their staff, trying to keep their history," he says.

Sarah Crisman contributed to this story.