Scotia bowling alley listed for sale, despite denial

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bethany Bump

Share on Facebook

Save

A recently renovated, longtime Scotia bowling alley is for sale.

Rolling Greens Lanes at 217 Mohawk Ave. was listed for sale earlier this year, nearly one year after its owner received village and county funds to spruce up the interior and facade.

The owner, Frances Lawyer, said Tuesday the business is not for sale and declined to comment further. But the real estate broker for the property and Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen confirmed it is.

At nearly 22,000 square feet, the two-story building is one of the largest in the village. It is listed by CBRE-Albany at a sale price of $370,000. It features 20 bowling lanes, a restaurant and kitchen, a game area and parking for about 25 vehicles.

Last year, Lawyer received $13,000 from Metroplex to improve the facade and a $12,000 loan from the Village Revolving Loan Fund to renovate the interior.

“The façade improvement project was completed on schedule,” Gillen said in an email Thursday. “It is one of a series of improvements and upgrades to Mohawk Avenue and the central business district in Scotia.”

To accept a Metroplex facade grant, Lawyer agreed to own the building and operate the business for five years from the date the grant was received. If the building is sold before then, the grant is subject to repayment, Gillen said.

“We spoke to the business owner,” he said. “Business is good. They are busy with many leagues, etc. At some point, the business owner is planning to retire, and so she is open to looking at offers for the business.”

Lawyer has owned the bowling alley since 1999. It was built in 1912 and was originally called Scotia Lanes. Lawyer bought it from John LeClair, a member of one of the area’s most prominent bowling families.

Last year, the business had five full-time employees and one part-time worker.

Local officials said last year improvements to the building would provide a “major boost” to revitalizing the village’s main business corridor. Mayor Kris Kastberg expressed concern more than a year ago that the corridor was filling up with vacant storefronts.

At the time, Metroplex began talking to property owners along Mohawk Avenue about possible facade improvements. Turf Tavern and Scotia Cinema both upgraded their storefronts. Last March, Metroplex announced it would clean up environmental contamination at the former McDonald’s on Mohawk Avenue and sell the site to Mazzone Management Group, which would use it temporarily for overflow parking and eventually build a new bakery operation and retail space.