Winter Garden's bowling alley is back in business under new name, ownership

Along with his business partner Dan Holtzapple, Hess recently re-opened the bowling alley on Dillard Street in Winter Garden — previously Carter Family Bowl & Pizzeria — under the name Winter Garden Bowl.

And, although a Sunday morning might not seem like the most likely time for a rush of customers to flood into the lanes, that’s just what Hess got this past weekend — a good sign that the people of West Orange County are glad to have their bowling alley back.

“(The response has) been pretty good,” Hess said. “People are starting to show up and come back and they’re really happy that it has opened back up.”

The reopening of the facility is welcome news for local high school bowling teams. Without the bowling alley available to them, area teams had to utilize Brunswick Wekiva Lanes, in Apopka, for home matches and practices. And, although the facility was very accommodating for the local programs, the long commute from the Winter Garden (for West Orange students) and Windermere (for Olympia students) areas was problematic.

“Wekiva Lanes was absolutely phenomenal … I have nothing but great things to say about Wekiva,” Rudy Zubricky, the head coach for West Orange’s bowling program, said. “The whole problem was getting kids to travel 35 minutes just for a practice. That was one of the big obstacles we had to have.”

Hess confirmed that West Orange and Olympia will be utilizing Winter Garden Bowl as their home facility, and possibly Foundation Academy, also. Ocoee will continue to call Wekiva Lanes its home.

The bowling center, which was foreclosed upon in January under its previous ownership, was reopened on Nov. 26 this year after Hess and Holtzapple leased it from the bank. Since the facility opened back up, business has grown steadily as word has gotten around and most days Hess, his wife Taryn, Holtzapple, and his wife Mary, are manning the counter and kitchen.

For Hess, an Ocoee resident and native of the greater Chicago area, having his own bowling center is a realization of a lifelong goal.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to own a bowling center — since I was a little kid, really,” Hess said. “I think it’s good for the community.”

Zubricky, a longtime member of the faculty at West Orange and former Winter Garden resident, echoed those sentiments on the communities need for a facility — and added that having local owners should help, too.

“I’ve been bowling there since I moved to Florida back in the 80s — the community needs that,” Zubricky said. “The bowling world, the bowling community, all knows (Hess and his wife, Taryn) because he’s been a bowler in the Orlando area for years and a lot of people know him. That helps that a local person is opening that back up.”

Holtzapple, who is from Sanford but is familiar with the facility from when Hess ran the pro shop when it was Carter Family Bowl, says he has quickly learned how deep the roots are between the center and the community. Accordingly, he says, business is looking up as Winter Garden Bowl nears its one month anniversary.

“We’re starting to have a lot of families come on — a lot birthday parties, a lot of company parties … even date nights,” Holtzapple said. “They all love the fact that it’s back and they do notice the improvements that were done.”

Those improvements include new ball returns, new bumpers, new gutters, a new light show for the cosmic bowl and new kitchen equipment. Upgrades in the works include new monitors, a new bar area, a new game room and remodeled bathrooms. The business partners say they have the entire facility on a three-year plan, by which time it will be completely renovated.

In the mean time, though, the family-friend, family-owned facility is taking things one day at a time — and making the most of busy days, even on Sunday mornings.

“It just gets better every week,” Hess said. “It’s kind of cool.”