Earlier this year, the Recreation Centers of Sun City West closed down all 30 bowling lanes inside the Sports Pavilion to begin the process of replacing each lane’s pinsetter, all of which have been operating in the Sports Pavilion for 20 plus years.

Since the closure started on April 27, old pinsetters have been removed, new pinsetters have come in and additional updates have become available to share with members, including the news of shipping delays pushing back the completion date of this project.

Out with the old

As soon as closure barricades were propped up at the start of this project, work began on disassembling and removing the bowling center’s pinsetters. One by one, each machine was removed and prepped to be shipped to their new home at another bowling center in the country as part of this project also included selling these older machines.

And in with the new (almost)

With the old machines out of the way, Brunswick delivered half of the Sports Pavilion’s new pinsetters and work began on the installation. As of this update, work continues on these pinsetters and is expected to be completed by early July.

The other half…shipping delays

As work continues on the portion of pinsetters in the Sports Pavilion’s possession, our partners at Brunswick have shared the following update concerning the remaining pinsetters.

Due to shipping delays, the arrival of the remaining pinsetters isn’t expected until mid July. With such a late arrival of these machines, and the required weeks needed to install them, this does push back the full completion date of this project into the month of August.

What’s next?

With this shipping delay currently affecting the completion of this project, what’s next? Here’s the latest updates for members to be aware of and share with others.

• Partial reopening: Once installation of the pinsetters currently in our possession has finished (estimated for early July), a partial reopening of the bowling lanes is planned for members to enjoy some open bowling. The unfinished lanes will be barricaded off when this occurs.
• No summer leagues this year: With half of the bowling lanes being unavailable until sometime in August, the decision has been made to cancel this year’s summer leagues. League play will pick back up in the fall once all 30 lanes are operational.

The Recreation Centers of Sun City West appreciates member’s patience, understanding and cooperation during this project and look forward to seeing bowlers back at the Sports Pavilion during the partial reopening and the full reopening later this summer.

Photo Progress

See the progress made so far on this project through the lens of a local photographer. From the start, community member and photographer Jeff Skocelas has been visiting the Sports Pavilion to document the work done in removing and installing pinsetters. Thank you to Jeff for his volunteer work!

Check out his photos from the project down below.

Click on any image to enlarge

Removal of the old Pinsetters

Installation of the new Pinsetters

General Maintenance

Staff took advantage of this current closure time to also address some general maintenance tasks.