The Wal-Lex Recreation Center, or simply Wal-Lex, was an entertainment complex located in Waltham, Massachusetts, which operated from 1947 until 2002. Considered a landmark in Waltham and the surrounding area, Wal-Lex consisted of a 60-lane candlepin bowling facility, a rollerskating rink, billiard tables, and video games. It also featured mini-golf until 1985.
The name is a portmanteau of Waltham and Lexington, as the facility was located on Lexington Street in Waltham, not far from the town line where the road became Waltham Street in Lexington.
Wal-Lex, the brainchild of John Rando, Fred Tortola Sr., Thomas Cappadona and George Rando, first opened its facilities on July 4, 1947, and at the time consisted only of a twenty lane candlepin bowling alley.
During the 1950s and 60s, the Wal-Lex became increasingly popular necessitating the addition of an eighteen lane annex building in 1954 and the addition of a twenty-two lane second floor in 1960. The complex was a major attraction in the Greater Boston area and became a popular spot for celebrities heading into Boston as well as professional bowlers. [1]
In 1950, a roller-skating rink was constructed next door to the bowling alley which featured skate rentals, a snack bar, and a live organ player. At one point, the facility also included a mini-golf course, kiddie rides, and a dairy stand.
At the time of its closure, the facility was showing its age. The original pinsetters were still operational (although, at first the pins were set manually by pinboys) and scores were still being taken by paper and pencil. The wooden lanes had been sanded down to the nails. Still a popular attraction for youths and bowling leagues, the Wal-Lex did not shut its doors due to lack of business, rather because the facility had simply become a victim of its own age. [2]
On the spot once occupied by the mini-golf course now sits a Burger King restaurant which opened in 1986. The rest of the facility remained operational until it was closed and demolished in 2002. The former site of Wal-Lex now houses a CVS and a Staples store.
The Wal-Lex bowling alley was the filming site for the television show Candlepins for Cash after the show moved to WXNE-TV Channel 25 in 1982.
Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Playing areas and fields consist of either snow or ice.
Candlepin bowling is a variation of bowling that is played primarily in the Canadian Maritime provinces and the New England region of the United States. It is played with a handheld-sized ball and tall, narrow pins that resemble candles, hence the name.
Duckpin bowling is a variation of the sport of bowling.
Burnet Park is the largest park in Syracuse, New York, USA, covering an area of 88 acres (36 ha). It is located on the west end of the city, in the Far Westside in a neighborhood called Tipperary Hill.
Radville is a town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, in the RM of Laurier No. 38. It was incorporated in 1911 after being settled in 1895. Highway 28 and Highway 377 pass through the town. Nearby communities include the village of Ceylon, 23 km to the west, and the city of Weyburn, 51 km to the north-east. Major nearby urban centres include Regina, which is 148 km to the north, and Moose Jaw, which is 143 km north-west.
Bowling for Dollars is a television game show on which people could play the sport of bowling to win cash and sometimes prizes based on how well they bowled.
Oakland Beach is a neighborhood and beach located in the South Central area of Warwick, Rhode Island, on Greenwich Bay, a tributary of Narragansett Bay. In the late 1800s, Oakland Beach was the site of Camp Wetmore, the site of six day annual training encampment of the Rhode Island Militia. Around 1895 the encampment was moved to a larger and better equipped facility at Quonset Point.
In bowling, a pinsetter or pinspotter is an automated mechanical device that sets bowling pins back in their original positions, returns bowling balls to the front of the alley, and clears fallen pins on the pin deck. Prior to the machine's invention, pinsetters were boys or young men hired at bowling alleys to manually reset pins and returned balls to the player. The first mechanical pinsetter was invented by Gottfried (Fred) Schmidt, who sold the patent in 1941 to AMF. Pinsetting machines have largely done away with pinsetting as a manual profession, although a small number of bowling alleys still use human pinsetters. While humans usually no longer set the pins, a pinchaser is often stationed near the equipment to ensure it is clean and working properly, and to clear minor jams.
Star City is a family leisure and entertainment complex in Nechells, Birmingham, England. It is located in the north east of the city very close to Junction 6 of the M6 motorway, and Aston railway station.
Valley Centertainment is a leisure and entertainment complex in the Don Valley in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It was built on land previously occupied by steel mills which also includes what is now Meadowhall shopping centre and the Utilita Arena. It is home to several restaurants, bars, a cinema, and a bowling alley as well as other attractions.
The Skating Club of Boston is a not-for-profit figure skating club based in Norwood, Massachusetts. Founded in 1912, it is one of the oldest skating clubs in the United States, and a founding member of U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body for the sport in the United States. The Club's mission is to advance participation, education and excellence in skating for people of all ages, abilities and means. The Club has over 800 active members and offers a variety of programs for the public, reaching another 2,000 children and adults. The club built its own rink in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1938 and remained there until moving to the Norwood facility in 2020. In addition, in a public private partnership with the City of Boston's Parks & Recreation Department, the Club manages the programming and facilities for The Frog Pond located at Boston Common on a year-round basis.
Norumbega Park was a recreation area and amusement park located in "Auburndale-on-the-Charles" near Boston, Massachusetts. The associated Totem Pole Ballroom became a well-known dancing and entertainment venue for big bands touring during the 1940s.
Sammy White's Brighton Bowl, or simply Sammy White's, was a bowling alley in the Brighton section of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after and owned by Boston Red Sox catcher Sammy White and featured lanes of both standard Ten-Pin and Candlepin bowling, the latter being the more popular style in New England. The bowling alley is most remembered for an infamous quadruple murder that occurred there in 1980. Sammy White's closed its doors in 1986. A second Sammy White's bowling alley was on the V.F.W. Parkway near the Boston/Dedham line. It closed in the mid-1980s.
Donald A. Gillis was a Canadian-born American sportscaster who was sports director of Boston's Channel 5 from 1962 through 1983. Gillis pioneered the 11 p.m. sports report in Boston during his tenure at WHDH-TV, becoming the dean of the city's sports anchors, and also would host highly popular candlepin bowling programs on the station. When the show debuted on October 4, 1958, it was hosted by Jim Britt, and Gillis was the co-host. When Britt left in 1967, Gillis began hosting the show himself.
Funspot is an arcade which features one of the largest collections of early-1970s to late-2000s games in the world. It is located in the village of Weirs Beach in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1952 by Bob Lawton, Funspot includes over 600 video games, pinball machines, and ticket redemption machines; an indoor miniature golf course; 20-lane ten-pin and candlepin bowling; cash bingo; a restaurant; a tavern; an ice cream stand; kiddie rides; and several other attractions on its grounds.
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins or another target. The term bowling usually refers to pin bowling, most commonly ten-pin bowling, though in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, bowling may also refer to target bowling, such as lawn bowls. Bowling is played by 120 million people in more than 90 countries, including 70 million people in the United States alone.
The New England Sports Center is a two-story, eight-rink ice-skating facility located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Covering 22.3 acres (90,000 m2) of suburban land, the 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) building has over 65 locker rooms, a hockey pro shop, ice skate sharpening, ice skate rentals, function rooms, a full-service restaurant, and a snack bar. In addition to the eight full-size rinks, the facility has two miniature ice surfaces, Rinks 9 and 10. Host to the Haydenettes, home to the Skating Club of Boston Metrowest, the Minuteman Flames, Central Mass. Outlaws, and the Junior Bruins hockey teams, the New England Sports Center is noteworthy for having more ice-skating surfaces than any other arena in the New England area.
The South Mountain Recreation Complex is a 36-acre recreation facility in Essex County, located within the boundaries of the South Mountain Reservation in West Orange, New Jersey, United States. The complex is managed as part of the Essex County Park System. Activities at the complex include a zoo, ice skating/hockey rinks, a safari-theme miniature golf course, a forest adventure park, a restaurant, paddle boats, a nautical theme playground, and a 1.75 miles (2.82 km) walking loop around the Orange Reservoir.
The Glencoe Club is a private sports and social club located in southwest Calgary, Alberta, Canada founded in 1931. Its facilities include two swimming pools, six badminton courts, ten bowling lanes, eight curling sheets, a skating rink, seven squash courts, six indoor tennis courts, and a fitness facility.
Out-of-home entertainment is a term coined by the amusement industry to collectively refer to experiences at regional attractions like theme parks and waterparks with their thrill rides and slides, and smaller community-based entertainment venues such as family entertainment and cultural venues.