From Deseret News archives:
Rail theme bowls over officials in Payson
Bowling alley will be constructed to look like historic train depot
Rather, the depot-styled structure will become home to the only bowling alley in town when completed later this year. City staff hit on the railroad theme after discussions with Pierce a couple of years ago. The city is struck with the idea that themes are the wave of the future with historic concepts in the forefront, Pierce said.
"I thought it was kind of kooky," architect Richard Craven said. "The city wants it to be the flagship" of future construction in the north Main Street area, he said.
City leaders first wanted it to look like the Union Station in Salt Lake City but backed off at the cost. The design will be more conducive to small town railroad stations, Craven said, "but it will still be a bowling alley."
Railroad themes fit historically because the construction site is near the Main Street and I-15 interchange where trains came through Payson decades ago. Old, unused railroad tracks are near the construction site, while a track about a half mile away gets regular use.
"It's a good idea so not all (new buildings) are plain," Pierce said of the concept.
Plain looking buildings — no, plain ugly buildings — are what the city is trying to avoid after one slipped through, they say. That building, an auto parts store on 100 West and 400 South, is a tin building with a small amount of brick wainscoting, Development Services Director Glade Robbins said.
"The council didn't like the way it looked," Robbins said.
After that the City Council ordered a booklet of standards created to impose design guidelines in commercial zones. Until that bible is completed, all commercial building design must come before the City Council for its blessing.
Pierce received his at an October City Council meeting.
Designed as a metal and wood stuccoed structure, the brown-toned bowling alley will include a series of arches and arched doors and windows common in railroad depots of yesteryear. Some windows will be fake to continue the theme.
A long, 6-foot deep porch, also common in old depots, will run along the front supported with wooden timber posts. Tall timbers will form the entry.
The metal building portion should be delivered within the next month, Pierce said.
Large enough for 20 lanes, it will instead have 16 and include a multipurpose room, small cafe and lounge.
Payson's last bowling alley, located near Mountain View Hospital at 900 East and 100 North, went out of business years ago.
More recently a car struck the gas meter and partially burned the building down. Later it was rebuilt and now houses state offices. Part of it is still vacant, Robbins said.
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com
