By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
With a snip of the scissors, the landmark Colonial Bowling Lanes on Brunswick Pike officially reopened its doors last Friday and assumed its new identity as the Colonial Bowling & Entertainment Center.
The bowling alley had been closed since May 2011 to allow for its transformation into a family entertainment center, complete with bowling lanes, an arcade center, a laser tag arena and a bar and restaurant.
Work on the 38,000-square-foot facility was completed last month, and a “soft” opening took place Feb. 16. But the Sheft family, which owns the business, waited until Friday to hold a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.
The facility has 20 bowling lanes, plus four lanes in a private suite that can be rented for social gatherings. There is a 3,000-square-foot laser tag arena, about 70 arcade games from skee ball to air hockey, video motorcycle and race car games and a basketball toss plus two miniature bowling lanes for young children.
”I have games for all ages,” said Wayne Tuttle, the center’s marketing director and self-described “minister of fun.”
When the bowling alley closed last spring, there were 10 employees, Mr. Tuttle said. The new center has close to 70 employees. The owners chose to stay and revamp the business and to create new jobs along the way, he said.
The Colonial Bowling & Entertainment Center traces its roots to the Colonial Bowling Lanes, which opened for business on Dec. 26, 1949, according to Peter Sheft. Charles Hoch, who was the original owner, was a friend of his father’s, Mr. Sheft said.
The bowling alley had 12 lanes, and it was expanded to 20 lanes several years later, Mr. Sheft said. His father, the late Dr. Stanley Sheft, was approached to invest in the business. Gradually, the retired dentist bought out the partners and assumed full ownership.
Over the years, the bowling alley expanded to 32 lanes and then doubled to 64 lanes. The restaurant went through several iterations, becoming the Colonial Pub. During its heyday from 1969 to 1985 it featured entertainers as diverse as Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and a band led by Frank Stallone, whose brother is actor Sylvester Stallone, Mr. Sheft said.
But the economic downturn in the 1990s took its toll.
”As manufacturing left the area, so left the bowlers,” Mr. Sheft said. General Motors Co., Roebling Steel, Delaval, and FMC Corp. hit hard times and laid off workers, many of whom were active in bowling leagues, he said.
”We were only able to fill the building half of the time. The logical conclusion was to chop it in half. We needed to sell the business or reinvent ourselves as a family entertainment center,” said Mr. Sheft, who owns the business with his brothers, Stanley Sheft and Michael Sheft.
The Sheft brothers opted to transform the bowling alley. In addition to the bowling lanes, the laser tag arena and the arcade, there is a 35-foot-long bar and restaurant, plus a snack bar.
Councilman Greg Puliti, who was one of the dignitaries on hand for the ribbon-cutting, recalled spending time at the Colonial Bowling Lanes as a child and as an adult. He grew up down the street from the bowling alley.
Mr. Puliti said he would collect money from his newspaper route customers and then ride his bicycle to the bowling alley. He would put his bike up against the wall and go inside to play on the pinball machines. Later, he joined the Mercer County Firemen’s Bowling League.
Mr. Puliti said that when he checked on the progress of the new Colonial Bowling & Entertainment Center a few days ago, “I had a little déjà vu moment. I saw a couple of bikes against the wall. That means it will be here for another couple of generations to come.”
Freeholder Pat Colavita, who grew up in Lawrence, said he and his wife celebrated their wedding anniversary at the bowling alley and they have been married for 44 years. Mr. Colavita said the family celebrated his son’s 7th birthday at the bowling alley, and he is now 42.
Mr. Colavita said that Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes mentioned the new family entertainment center at a meeting of the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders recently. Mr. Hughes pointed to the revamped bowling alley as a sign of revitalization and improvement in the economy.
”It is on the hearts and lips of everyone here in Mercer County,” Mr. Colavita said.
State Sen. Shirley K. Turner, who lives in Lawrence, congratulated the Sheft family. In a variation on the expression that “the family that prays together, stays together,” she said that “the family that plays together, stays together.”
”I remember this bowling alley when it was more like the Flinstones,” said Sen. Turner, who has lived in Lawrence for about 50 years. She recalled bringing her children to play at the Colonial Bowling Lanes when they were young.
Freeholder Andrew Koontz said he was “astonished” by the new Colonial Bowling & Entertainment Center. It will be an asset to Mercer County, and a place to come visit and play, he said.
”Now, let’s go bowling,” Mr. Koontz said.
The Colonial Bowling & Entertainment Center is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m to 11 p.m., and Friday from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. It is open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

