Business
22 January, 2025
Ten-pin bowling proves popular over school holidays
O-Pin Bowling had a solid summer period and hopes to grow the business in 2025.
A steady stream of Mount Isa families have taken advantage of O-Pin Bowling’s increased number of lanes during the school holidays, with the business planning a fundraising drive to finance further expansions.
The Pioneer bowling alley has had five lanes available in recent weeks, an increase from the two lanes offered for most of 2024, after a specialist bowling lane engineer flew in from the coast last month to complete new installations on the alleyways.
O-Pin bowling co-owner Steven Milligan said all five operational lanes had been getting a consistent workout during the school holiday season.
“It has been a steady stream of people, mostly families, coming along and using the lanes during the school holidays,” he said.
“Despite it being busy, we haven’t had to turn anyone away, but we do recommend people book ahead of time before they arrive.”
Mr Milligan said the increased capacity would allow competitive bowling to recommence next month and he was currently in the process of contacting team members across the city.
He said O-Pin has the capacity to offer 12 lanes but required additional funds to install string pinsetters, which would replace the traditional machines that sweep away and reset the pins.
String pin-setters, as the name implies, would see each pin attached to a nylon rope that lifts them back into place after each bowl, like a marionette being set onto the stage.
This latest technology has become increasingly common across the United States, and is even now acceptable for competitive competitions.
“String pin-setters would save money in the long run and would mean we would have less mechanical breakdowns and we would not require specialist tradespeople to have to fly into Mount Isa to assist us,” Mr Milligan said.
He said O-Pin currently had a raffle board fundraiser underway to assist with gathering the necessary money required for the upgrades which was the first in a series of money raising activities planned for the coming months.