The Warren Sun

Michigan bowling alleys must legally remain closed, even after taking extensive safety measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, according to The Center Square.

After five months without revenue, the state’s bowling alleys are still closed, even as indoor dining and casinos in Detroit have reopened for business. Industry leaders have not received any answers as to why the bowling alleys haven’t been allowed to open.

Michael Shearer, president of the Bowling Centers Association of Michigan and the owner of the Perfect Game bowling alley in Farmington Hills, told The Center Square that his group submitted a comprehensive safety reopening plan to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office in April. The plan included procedures for doing temperature screenings of customers and employees daily, sanitizing high-touch surfaces frequently and social-distancing procedures. After four months of waiting, the group finally got a response, only after filing a lawsuit.

“The goal behind the lawsuit is not to challenge anyone’s authority,” Shearer said, according to The Center Square. “It’s about getting the same opportunity to operate safely as a lot of other industries that are really similar to ours, like restaurants and now casinos.”

Labor Day, traditionally the start of the league bowling season, is fast approaching; it's also the time when bowling alleys are the busiest and generate most of their revenue.

“But if this [forced closure] goes on too much longer, it’s going to make [reopening] very difficult, and we risk losing a lot of the industry,” Shearer said.

Under Whitmer’s current orders, professional bowlers can bowl at bowling alleys, but league bowling is prohibited.

Rich Kenny, owner of Forest View Lanes in Temperance, says he receives up to 100 customer calls per day about bowling. Forest View Lanes has lost more than $1 million of revenue since March, according to court filings. Kenny’s business remains closed, while four bowling alleys within 7 miles of Forest View Lanes are open across state lines in Ohio.

“If we don’t start Labor Day, half of my business goes to Ohio for the next nine months… Half my business will be bowling in bowling alleys within seven miles of my center,” Kenny told The Center Square. “I will lose my business if we don’t open Labor Day.”

Kenny says that he’s ready to open. He’s spent more than $30,000 on COVID-19 safety measures, including masks, hand sanitizer, 6-foot-tall dividers between lanes, and cleaning products and ultraviolet light for ball and shoe sanitation. He even offers disposable shoes.

“We believe we can do this safely today without any problem,” Kenny told The Center Square.