A Dream Reopens: New Ownership Brings Fresh Life to Willamette Lanes

In a time when bowling centers across the country continue to face difficult challenges, Oregon’s bowling community has something worth celebrating: Willamette Lanes is coming back to life.

The small, eight-lane center in Oakridge has new ownership, new energy and a renewed focus on giving local families and bowlers a place to gather. For new owner Bryan Morris, the opportunity is more than a business venture. It is the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

“It’s been a dream of mine,” Morris said. “You know, I was just a little kid, and we kind of just got to talking about it one night, and here we are.”

Morris, who lives in Cottage Grove, now owns Willamette Lanes with his wife, Samantha, and their friend Clayton. Morris serves as president, Clayton is helping in a vice president role, and Samantha is handling accounting and working to get the kitchen side of the business ready. Like many bowling center owners know all too well, “president” can also mean being the person customers see at the counter, the one keeping the machines running and, when needed, the head shoe sprayer.

Morris is not new to bowling. He said he has been bowling since he was old enough to walk and previously spent six years working at Strike City Lanes as both a mechanic and front desk employee. At 34 years old, however, he admits he never expected to already be the owner of a bowling center.

Willamette Lanes is located in Oakridge, about 45 minutes east of Interstate 5. Morris describes it as being “out in the woods,” but also in a community that has been eager to see the center open again.

“Right now, it’s just a lot of families,” Morris said. “There’s nothing to do in that town. So everyone’s just really excited that there’s some sort of family entertainment and something to do out there now.”

The center has been through several owners over the past 15 to 20 years. Morris credits the previous operator with putting work into the building and giving the new ownership group a head start.

For now, Willamette Lanes is in a soft opening phase while the kitchen is still being completed. Morris said the work to get the center ready has included paint, new flooring, cosmetic improvements and plenty of attention to the eight original Brunswick A machines.

“They’re definitely aged, but they get the job done,” Morris said.

That does not mean the work has been easy. Morris has experience working on other machines, but said the older Brunswick equipment has required a lot of learning, including YouTube tutorials, trial and error and tracking down hard-to-find parts. The wood lanes and approaches, however, are in good shape after being resurfaced in 2022, giving the center an important foundation to build from.

The day-to-day work has included the kind of behind-the-scenes maintenance that keeps a small bowling center moving: cleaning, preventing oil buildup, keeping ball returns working and making sure people know the center is open. Morris said social media has already been an important tool, especially because the center had not previously had much of an online presence.

The family side of the business is also clear. Bryan and Samantha have an almost seven-year-old daughter and a four-month-old son. Their daughter, Morris joked, already thinks she owns the place.

“She loves it,” Morris said. “Any chance she can to bowl, she’s taking it.”

Samantha is also working on the kitchen, which Morris said will start with items such as paninis and melts. Because the center does not currently have a Type 1 hood, burgers and similar items will have to wait, but Morris said expanding the kitchen is part of the long-term plan.

The bigger vision is to bring Willamette Lanes back as a true bowling and community center.

“I’d like to get it back to what it used to be,” Morris said, mentioning Monte Carlo, monthly events, tournaments, leagues and families.

That future may also include certified league bowling. Morris said certifying the lanes is on his list and that he has already spoken with other bowling center proprietors about what needs to happen moving forward. For the Oregon State USBC, that is encouraging news and another sign that Willamette Lanes could once again become part of the certified bowling landscape in Oregon.

Morris said the support from the broader bowling community has already meant a great deal. Other centers and bowlers have reached out with offers of extra parts, pins and even bowling shoes. One person in Aberdeen, Washington, is holding on to a large number of nearly new shoes for Morris to pick up.

“I’ve actually had a lot of support,” Morris said. “A lot of centers have been reaching out to me with extra parts and pins and such that they have.”

That support matters. Bowling centers are not just businesses. They are league homes, tournament sites, youth sports venues, family gathering places and community landmarks. Seeing one reopen is a positive moment not only for Oakridge, but for Oregon bowling.

Morris hopes bowlers and families will give Willamette Lanes a chance, whether they live nearby, remember the center from years ago or simply want to support a center trying to grow.

“Come see us. Come check the place out,” Morris said. “If some people haven’t been there in 20 years and want to see what it looks like, come on down.”

He also has his eye on building more tournament opportunities, including scratch events.

“I want to do a lot of scratch stuff out there,” Morris said. “Personally, I just don’t think there’s enough scratch stuff here in the valley. I’d like to kind of change that a little bit.”

For Morris, Samantha, Clayton and their family, the work is just beginning. There are machines to learn, a kitchen to finish, leagues to rebuild and bowlers to welcome back. But the doors are open, the lanes have life again and the Oakridge community has a bowling center to call its own.

In a bowling world where too many conversations are about centers closing, Willamette Lanes offers a much better story.

A center is reopening.

A family is chasing a dream.

And Oregon bowling is better for it.