RECREATION : Life in the Busy Lanes : Tiny Montrose Bowl is a favorite of location directors and a second home for many in the neighborhood. It’s already booked for parties through June.
MONTROSE — When you ask Bob Berger why he bought a bowling alley about 11 years ago, he’ll say, “Stupidity. I never owned anything like this, and I didn’t even know how to bowl.â€
But that little, “stupid†investment has become Berger’s life, a location director’s dream, and the livelihood of the Montrose-area residents who see the bowling alley as their second home.
Operating since 1936, the Montrose Bowl is the only eight-lane bowling alley in the Los Angeles area (Fullerton, San Diego and Point Mugu also have small alleys).
“You find four-, six-, eight-lane alleys in small towns,†says Mark Miller, publication assistant for the American Bowling Congress, “but it’s very unusual to see one thrive in a big city like Los Angeles.â€
When Berger’s employer of 30 years laid him off back in 1989, Berger decided to concentrate on the bowling investment and make it work. But he found the going tough and expensive.
“Financially, you cannot exist with just leagues in an eight-lane alley,†he said. So he and wife Maria had to make the bowling alley work for them in other ways.
And work it does. The Montrose Bowl is the hardest-working bowling alley in town. If it’s not the location for the latest Miller Beer commercial or wrap party for a television movie, it’s the site of a youngster’s birthday party.
The La Canada Mixed 4 league has called it home for more than 40 years and uses the lanes every Tuesday evening. And ordinary folks who want to bowl a few lanes drop in. (Patrons are advised to call first.)
Law firms, insurance companies, hospitals and real estate companies book the alley regularly for parties.
“Everyone likes to bowl, you know,†he says, with a German accent from his early years in the Black Forest.
He pulls out a thick, black book and shows off appointment pages.
“We have parties scheduled in here until June,†he said. “And forget about October, that’s Oktoberfest.â€
Holiday times are always in great demand and this year Donna Thomas, owner of Permanent Employment Agency in Glendale, has already booked the alley for her annual Christmas party. She did it in January.
“I wanted to make sure I got the date I wanted,†Thomas explained.
She discovered Montrose Bowl while driving down Honolulu Avenue and noticing the handwritten “Private party†signs and balloons on the bowling alley’s front door.
She called for a price and discovered a great deal--a six-hour private party rental at Montrose Bowl costs $400. At other bowling alleys, the cheapest quote she got was $3,300--and that wouldn’t even be for a private party.
“It’s the only place I know where you can have your own private bowling alley for an evening,†says Scott Craig of H.K.M. Productions, which specializes in TV commercials. Craig recently used the Montrose Bowl for an upcoming Miller Ice Beer commercial.
“There’s so much texture and charm there,†he said. “Berger is well experienced in working with the film business.â€
Berger is proud of the movies filmed here. His walls are filled with photos from “Frankie and Johnnie†with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino, “Teen Wolf†with Michael J. Fox, and shots of the queen of bad horror films, Elvira.
Celebrities aren’t always in front of the camera at the Montrose Bowl.
Bruce Willis celebrated his birthday by knocking pins down on lane 8, and party-throwers Janet Jackson, Eddie Van Halen, Donald Sutherland and David Cassidy have taken advantage of the privacy and the charm of the place.
Recently, the cast and crew of “Hard Copy†celebrated the end of February Nielsen ratings sweeps at the Montrose Bowl, and according to Miguel Encino, associate director and self-proclaimed social coordinator for the show, “the staff makes you feel right at home. We even cleaned out their refrigerator!â€
The stars may be out in the evening, but during the day Montrose Bowl becomes the dream party location for parents.
“All the kids love it here,†says Bob Bitticks, a Glendale lawyer who recently threw a birthday party for his 6-year-old son, Adam, and about 20 of Adam’s little friends.
It could have been a nightmare keeping track of the kids as well as entertaining them, said Bitticks’ wife, Sabine, but at the Montrose Bowl, everything is self-contained.
“It’s small enough so you can stand here and see every kid,†she said on the day of the party, as she prepared the birthday cake and pinata. “And they’re having a blast,†said Bitticks, watching his other son, Christopher, 11, roll a nice ball.
After the pinata was cracked open, Adam opened his presents. Most of his friends, however, were back slinging bowling balls down the lanes, which are protected with huge, inflatable gutter bumpers.
After Adam ripped open the wrapping of his first present, he said, “Uh oh, I gotta go. I gotta go back bowling.â€
WHERE AND WHEN
* What: Montrose Bowl.
* Location: 2334 Honolulu Ave., Montrose.
* Hours: Open 11 a.m. to midnight daily.
* Price: $1.75 per game or $7 an hour. Shoe rental, 75 cents. Six-hour day or evening rental, $400 or $70 per hour weekdays or evenings. Rental includes unlimited bowling, shoe rental and bowling balls; food and drink are extra. No beverages may be brought in, but food can be catered in if requested.
* Call: (818) 249-3895.
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