Final frame for Windsor's last five-pin bowling alley

After 78 years in Windsor, the doors at Playdium Lanes have closed for a final time.

Friday marked the last day for the bowling alley after a developer purchased the property last year, manager Mariano Meconi tells CTV News.

“What started as a temporary job getting out of university turned into a lifetime here,” said Meconi, who took over the lanes in 1980 from his uncle who ran the alley for 18 years.

Strolling down memory lane

Among those who were at the bowling alley on Friday afternoon was Larry Cookson — a pin setter at Playdium from 1961 to 1963.

Cookson took his first job at the alley when he was in high school because he wanted a new bike and still has fond memories of his days working there.

“It was chaos,” said Cookson. “Some nights, if there was a Pin Setter missing, we had to do four lanes.”

Cookson said he now lives up north but stressed he “had to be here” when he heard that the alley was closing.

Meconi says the alley has made memories for many over the years, including a couple getting married on lanes 5 and 6, with the bride slinging bowling shoes across her shoulder.

Lanes 3 and 4 also saw some people bowl a perfect game.

What’s next?

Meconi is grateful to the community for all its support over all the years and especially over the last month.

With the property now sold, Meconi says he’ll have more time to be on his boat in Lake St. Clair.

Meconi added he hopes to reopen again one day in a new location, but those plans have not been ironed out as of yet.