Congress Lanes, a Relic of Dayton Bowling History, Is Razed

A former bowling alley on Troy Street in Old North Dayton was recently demolished.

Congress Lanes, built in 1946, was a small, old-school neighborhood alley. It was built out to the street instead of set back in a sea of parking lots like most of the larger, modern alleys in suburban settings. It featured just 10 lanes as well as manual scoring into the 2000s.

Its early owners were Louis Zavakos, Steve Vargo, and George Peffley, who replaced Zavakos in 1954. Vargo was described as “slow talking and with an ever-present cigar in his mouth,” and as of the late 1950s he had “been on the Dayton bowling scene for close to a half century.” At age 64 he had a career resurgence and enjoyed one of his best years, averaging 208 in league play.

As the sport of bowling enjoyed its peak of popularity in the late 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the pages of the local newspapers chronicled the myriad of local tournament and league bowling exploits in great detail.

One column in the Dayton Journal Herald known as “Alley Babble” recounted not just scores and results but also interesting and amusing stories, like one controversial strike in October 1950 which “brought down the house” at Congress Lanes:

“Idlye Clark, who bowls with the Wrong Arms (left-handers) in the Delco Maintenance league, rolled his ball down the lane. Just a second before, the pinsetter had started a ball pitched earlier back up the return. The ball on the return jumped the track and bounded out on the lane. It collided in mid-alley with Clark’s ball. The impact sent the runaway ball back down the lane where it went right into the pocket for a perfect strike. Meanwhile, Clark’s ball fluttered into the gutter to finish its journey. But the strike didn’t count as when the balls collided that made the pitch a dead ball and Clark had to bowl again. He got a spare on his next effort” (Nichols).

Starting in the mid-1950s, Congress Lanes held an annual singles tournament which originally awarded $500 and a trophy for first place, as well as $100 for the highest single game. Other tournaments taking place at Congress included the annual city team match game championship, which featured five-person teams. Some of the most popular bowling teams from around the country, including the Budweisers of St. Louis, occasionally came to Dayton for exhibitions.

In those days, there were 15,000 league bowlers in the Dayton area competing in what was called “America’s greatest participation sport.”

The newest alley at the time was “Bar-Jan Bowl” at 352 Kettering Blvd in Moraine, “a 24-lane all-automatic layout complete with even a T-formation.” The largest alleys in town were National Lanes with 48 lanes and McCook on Keowee Street with 44.

McCook alone boasted 2,850 bowlers across 81 different leagues. Also, University of Dayton students bowled at National as part of a freshman physical education class, and Chaminade, Fairmont and Centerville high schools also offered bowling.

Other alleys at the time included Belmont Lanes on Watervliet, both Varsity Bowl and Riverdale on North Main St, Poelking Lanes on Wilmington, Pla-Mor Lanes on Salem Ave, Pastime on N. Dixie, Academy on Steele Ave, and Capitol on East Third St (“15,000,” DDN).

In 1965, Congress Lanes was sold to Airway Bowling Inc. owned by Chris, Dino, Tasi and James Zavakos. Chuck Fitzpatrick was installed as the general manager, and the new ownership remodeled the 10 lanes and bar. In the late 90s to early 2000s, Congress was owned by Ron and Rita Vayna and had dart and pool leagues as well as a euchre night. The last newspaper mention we can find of it being open is in 2010, and the last social media post referring to it as open in 2012, although it appears to have stayed open as a bar for some time after the bowling operation ceased.

Sources

Rejuvenated Vargo Gets Another 600, Dayton Daily News, 1/21/59.

“Alley Babble,” Jim Nichols, Journal Herald, 10/28/50.

“15,000 Dayton Bowlers Open Season at 12 Establishments,” Dayton Daily News, 9/4/55.