City Centre Bowling Alley

senordingdong

Are there any bowling alleys in the city centre?
I reckon I'm probably clutching at straws but I don't want to ahve to trek all the way to the Leisure Plex.

Ph3n0m

there are none - nearest are LeisurePlex in Stillorgan, Tallaght and there is a bowling alley in Palmerstown and Blanchardstown

Dub13

Or LeisurePlex Coolock if you are on the northside.Property prices are far to high to have a bowling alley in the city center.

senordingdong

Really? What would property prices have to do with it?

Ph3n0m

senordingdong wrote:

Really? What would property prices have to do with it?

Well if the rent/purchase price was high, how do the owners know it wont be a failure? Tis a gamble opening any kind of business in Dublin City Centre.

Rent, etc out in the suburbs is much cheaper

BendiBus

senordingdong wrote:

Really? What would property prices have to do with it?

You can make a bigger profit by selling a bowling alley to a property developer for apartments/offices, than you can by running a bowling alley.

I used to go to a bowling alley on North Strand in the early 90s. It's gone now (and probably now apartments or offices, for the reason above).

irlirishkev

BendiBus wrote:

I used to go to a bowling alley on North Strand in the early 90s. It's gone now (and probably now apartments or offices, for the reason above).

Think it was called Strand Bowl or something.. I was there once myself about 5 years ago before it shut. And yes, it's been demolished and there are apartments now being built in it's place..

admiralofthefleet

leisureplex coolock would be closer to the city centre than stillorgan, tallaght and blanchardstown. its a short ride on either the 42,43 or 27 bus or along fairview strand and up the malahide road opposite cadbury's by car

Thelikefaneire

Makes me long for the old RollerDome and Wally Wabbits in Dundrum. God that place was a shack in its dieing days, but still a good thing. But instead they sold it off with Super Crazy Prices and made the gargantuan upper-middle class beacon that is the new town centre. Yuck, im glad i moved out of balinteer, all the nice areas were just getting stuffed with money hungry developments.

senordingdong

The one in the strand was actualyl called the metro bowl, and after it closed it lay idle for about 10 years before they even started tearing it down.
It was a kip anyway and was better off.

Dub13

Does anybody remember the laser dome in the strand comples...?IIRC it was one of the first laser domes in Ireland.

admiralofthefleet

yeah went there with a youthclub years ago. it was crap!

spurious

Remember the lasers? I remember the cinema!
Nice to see the architect kept the slightly deco facade of the old cinema on the apartments.

I second Coolock as the closest bowling to town.

Dub13

spurious wrote:

Remember the lasers? I remember the cinema!

Showing your age now....you probably remember the farview cinema aswell...?

spurious

Dub13 wrote:

Showing your age now....you probably remember the farview cinema aswell...?

When it had an upstairs AND a downstairs.

microgirl

Dub13 wrote:

Showing your age now....you probably remember the farview cinema aswell...?

Ah come on, even I remember the Fairview Cinema, and I'm only 31. Sure it only shut down about 15 years ago. Was a total rat-hole for it's last few years.

I don't ever remember the Strand Cinema being a cinema though. I remember Strand Bowl, with the Laserdome, and then it being called Metro Bowl, but the cinema was before my time

admiralofthefleet

i remember seeing batman in the fairview cinema in 1989, there was a huge drop at the front row

Dub13

admiralofthefleet wrote:

i remember seeing batman in the fairview cinema in 1989, there was a huge drop at the front row

Yea thats what I remember as well but apparently us kids only ever got to see the upstairs part I think the rest closed sometime in the early 80s.

spurious

The upstairs still operates as a private cinema for industry previews. It's owned by a company called 'Buena Vista'.
All the blockbusters are probably still previewing in the Fairview.

senordingdong

I've created a monster.

Dub13

spurious wrote:

The upstairs still operates as a private cinema for industry previews. It's owned by a company called 'Buena Vista'.

Well what do they say about learning something new everyday.With property prices the way they are you would think somebody would have bought it and built the usual Apts etc.

On a side note,was it this building or the one next door that housed the now defunct Dublin Daily newspaper...?that was a short lived venture.

admiralofthefleet

it was in the cinema building, if you are going by you can still see remnants of the posters the dublin daily had up on the large wall at the front

Jay D

senordingdong wrote:

Are there any bowling alleys in the city centre?
I reckon I'm probably clutching at straws but I don't want to ahve to trek all the way to the Leisure Plex.

God and look what happened to the Strand Bowl........

dazberry

microgirl wrote:

I remember Strand Bowl, with the Laserdome, and then it being called Metro Bowl, but the cinema was before my time

That's right. It was originally the Strand Bowl but it closed down and was subsequently reopened as the Metro bowl.

The Laserdrome was pretty cool, but the problem was that the equipment was very unreliable. Prior to the Laserdrome the back part was a big empty shell - and someone had marked out a badminton court there.

After the Laserdrome I think some English guy rented it and was using it to run some adult chat minitel service. I ~think~ the guy upped and disappeared leaving all the equipment behind - it was leased anyway.

I think it then became a gym for a while.

I live in Inchicore atm and there was an old cinema similar to the one in North Strand out here too - albeit somewhat smaller. It opened a couple of times as a snooker hall etc., but finally has been demolised and has been replaced by... guess what... apartments!

D.

Jay D

dazberry wrote:

That's right. It was originally the Strand Bowl but it closed down and was subsequently reopened as the Metro bowl.

The Laserdrome was pretty cool, but the problem was that the equipment was very unreliable. Prior to the Laserdrome the back part was a big empty shell - and someone had marked out a badminton court there.

After the Laserdrome I think some English guy rented it and was using it to run some adult chat minitel service. I ~think~ the guy upped and disappeared leaving all the equipment behind - it was leased anyway.

I think it then became a gym for a while.

I live in Inchicore atm and there was an old cinema similar to the one in North Strand out here too - albeit somewhat smaller. It opened a couple of times as a snooker hall etc., but finally has been demolised and has been replaced by... guess what... apartments!

D.

the fella who owned the laser drome was Englisg too.

tbh I thought when it closed that was it, I never seen any activity there after that.That whole Nth Strand area is changed big time.