Toronto developer strikes a deal with Hamilton bowling enthusiast

Toronto condo king Brad Lamb never expected to be running a bowling alley in Hamilton, but then he never met a guy like Lionel Lewis before.

Lamb bought Skyway Lanes in the east end of Hamilton in 2019.

The former owners had bowling burnout. When they closed the doors of the 10-pin bowling alley and sold the low slung building to Lamb, it ended a 62-year run.

I saw it as a future development site," Lamb said. I didn't intend to head hunt for a guy to run a bowling alley."

But with 18 developments underway in Ontario, Lamb couldn't get to this property for another 10 years, so he put the building up for rent.

That is when Lionel Lewis, an avid bowler and former employee at Skyway Lanes, bolted into action.

About six months ago, Lionel started bugging me, he was so persistent he got me excited about bowling, about bringing it back," Lamb says.

Lewis had worked at Skyway Lanes on and off since 1983, starting out as a pin chaser. The ace bowler felt adrift when it closed.

It was one big family here," Lewis says.

Skyway Lanes is a flat building, sandwiched between six-storey apartment buildings on Melvin Avenue - the perfect location for a Wes Anderson movie.

To Lamb, the force behind the future Television City condo towers in Hamilton, it looked like the perfect location for more apartments. He liked the stable neighbourhood. But new development would be years away.

I'm not sure I'll be alive," he said.

And Lamb liked Lewis's idea - that it would provide jobs in the community and the bowling family of Skyway would be reunited.

So Lewis put together a business plan, and Lamb pulled together the cash to put a shine back into the alley they renamed Skyway Bowl.

Lanes were refinished, the snack bar expanded, the parking lot resurfaced, and equipment updated.

I could have bought a very high-end, luxury sports car for what it cost me (to renovate)," Lamb said.

To Lewis, Skyway was like the TV show Cheers." Everyone knew your name. It thrived in an era when leagues were popular, and people took bowling seriously.

The former pin chaser, mechanic pro shop boss, pro bowler and now new manager of the 24-lane kingdom, ordered new shoes, new balls and boxes of new pins.

Pin setting machines were tuned up and the walls were painted, but the spacey graphics plastered above the pins remain.

League bowlers will be happy here," Lewis says with pride. And so will the social bowlers."

Once it passes city requirements, Skyway Bowl will open with COVID-19 precautions in place, including using only 12 of the 24 lanes.