Maple Lanes’ Final Night On Sunday!

Photo by Susan Armitage

Maple Lanes, at 1570 60th Street, will close for good after the final pins hit the floor Sunday night, as the 49-year-old business is slated to give way to a religious and residential complex.

The closing, first reported by Brooklyn Spectator, was long expected since the LaSpina family, which owns the business, sold to a developer who will build 112 residential units atop a house of worship.

The news has been taken as a blow to the community since it was first announced in September 2012. It was just a matter of weeks before a Save Maple Lanes petition began circulating, albeit unsuccessfully.

While the developer sought approval from the city to build residential units in an area zoned for manufacturing, community opinion remained split.

Meanwhile, Borough President Marty Markowitz sought to alleviate the added pressure on parking that the closure would cause on nearby Shell Lanes (1 Bouck Court), by asking the Department of Transportation to create angled parking in the area. The request was denied.

Spectator notes the locations of the handful of bowling alleys that remain in the borough:

Once Maple Lanes is gone, there will only be five bowling alleys left in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Bowl and The Gutter in Williamsburg, Melody Lanes in Sunset Park, Shell Lanes in Gravesend, and Strike 10 Lanes (fka Gil Hodges Lanes) in Mill Basin.