Cherokee lanes under new management
Cherokee Lanes in Fruitland, Md. is under new ownership. First time business owners Christopher Van Sant, and Danielle Murray, purchased the bowling alley for $1.15 million less than two weeks ago. The “under new ownership” on the marquee facing Rt. 13 tells everyone who passes the news.
Van Sant and Murray said owning the bowling alley was something the two of them had considered for awhile.
“I’ve always said it with other friends through the years that this place has a lot of potential, it’s just not really been handled the right way,” Van Sant said.
Cherokee Lanes opened in the mid 1960’s, and changed owners once in 1991, when Mitch Petrulli purchased the venue.
Both Murray and Van Sant grew up in the Salisbury area and came to the lanes as kids. Murray tagging along with her mother, who was a league bowler. Van Sant, a bowler in his earlier days.
They say their vision for what they’ll call Southbound Alley, will take place in two parts.
“We’re doing this in different stages, so our first stage is to come in and do some renovations and then our phase two is to do a restaurant with a bar build in it,” Murray said.
Some changes are already noticeable. The arcade has undergone a complete overhaul, with new games and pool tables. The snack bar has a new fresh menu that offers things such as paninis, a stark contrast from the previous menu of solely fried food. The lanes have also undergone better oiling, something that has drawn praise from patrons.
The renovations in whole, will take around 18 to 24 months according to Van Sant. Although the lanes will stay open during most of the $250,000 renovations, the lanes will shut down for roughly 30 days when they build out the restaurant.
The restaurant, which will named the “11th Frame” is arguably the biggest change coming to the lanes. Murray said the restaurant will help make Southbound Alley a “destination dining facility” for the community.
Murray, who has close to 30 years in the service industry, said the restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“(We want to ) make it so somebody can come during the day if they want to play a game of KENO and have a drink, or they can come eat lunch with the family, or they can come bowl, I want people to come here for more than just bowling,” Van Sant said.
The end goal, according to Van Sant, make the bowling alley a place where everyone wants to come again.
“I think everyone likes bowling. The ones that love it are going to bowl no matter what, but the ones that like it stopped coming because they didn’t like everything that went with the bowling, the customer service and the food and all that. So we’re trying to change all that,” Van Sant said.
Both owners say they are open to comments from the public, but ask for patience as they try and repair what they describe as 25 years of wear and tear.
Murray said she wants people to know, “We’re going to have great food, great service, and offer a great time.”
