Hillsborough staple, The Alley, had its last day of bowling Saturday. To celebrate the historic site before it becomes a Target, the Alley hosted a silent auction, giving attendees a chance to take a piece of history home with them or just walk the lanes one last time.
While doors were supposed to open at 4 p.m., people were let in a half hour early to start making their bids. A large variety of items were up for sale. Smaller items like bowling balls and drink glasses were sold alongside large, stranger items like ball returners, pin decks and racks.
Some furniture was also sold, including sections of the orange and green bench seating, lockers and table-sized sections of wood from two whole lanes. Charlie Willis, a junior at NC State studying mechanical engineering, said he was looking to buy decorations for his apartment.
“Freshman year, it was like the first real NC State ‘establishment’ I ever really went to,” Willis said. “You have Mitch’s Tavern, and that is quintessential NC State. You have Mission Valley Cinemas, Cup a Joe and this place. I feel like this was one of my first tastes of what it really meant to be a broke college kid and a NC State student. I took bowling here freshman year. It may have been my first class ever.”
At the auction, attendees could write in or raise bids on each individual item. Most items had starting bids between $10 and $25. By 5 p.m., many were breaking $100. Fortunately, The Alley was also selling pins at a flat rate of $10 and bowling balls at a flat rate of $20, guaranteeing that patrons walked away with something.
The auction also featured items more unique to The Alley like the location’s three disco balls, neon beer signs, featuring Pabst Blue Ribbon, Bud Light and Coors Light, and one of the brown Brunswick crowns that hung over the lanes. The latter was bid on by NC State alumna, Jen Foster, who said she was hoping to win the crown.
“I grew up in Raleigh,” Foster said. “When I was a kid and we’d go bowling, this is where we would go. This is where I learned how to score on a manual score chart. My then-boyfriend, now husband, and I went on dates here. It’s a fun place to hang out, and it’s sad to see it come to an end.”
Many of the Alley’s classic black and white art was sold, including pictures of Reynolds Coliseum, Jim Valvano and the legendary 1983 men’s basketball team. From the chipped bowling pins to the ball-beaten lanes, the 50-plus years of history could be felt.
“We used to come here for the perfect date night back in high school,” said attendee John McLawhorn. “We’d go to Brothers Pizza and then bowl here. I came here a lot with friends and church youth groups. I came here a lot in the early ‘70s, up to the ‘80s, and then just kind of forgot about it. You took for granted that it would be here.”
McLawhorn said he wasn’t interested in bidding on any of the items up for auction.
“I just came here for memories.” McLawhorn said.
Sections of the wooden bowling lanes from The Alley are laid out to be auctioned off the bowling alley's final day of business on Sunday. In addition, photo prints, neon beer logo signs, chairs and other memorabilia were auctioned off while people looking for a smaller piece of history could purchase a bowling pin, bowling ball or a pair of shoes. The empty retail space on Hillsborough Street is slated to become a mini Target.
