Tiger Bowl set to reopen on Sept. 2

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Husband and wife team, Dennis and Robin Bailey, have joined forces with business partner, Al Slavich, to give Tiger Bowl a much-needed facelift.

The Baileys have spent the last 15 years operating Bailey’s Classic Lanes in the Cascade Park area and expect their faithful customers to follow them out to Battle Ground to bowl.

The Baileys had been leasing bowling lanes from the Vancouver Elks Lodge, which intends to use the space for other endeavors. Robin said that she and her husband had been pestering long-time owner Harold Lysne for quite a while to sell Tiger Bowl to them and, after 43 years in business, Lysne finally agreed it was time to hang up his shoes and see what else the world has to offer.

“He knew we’d keep it a bowling alley and that made him feel better about retiring because he loves bowling,” Robin said. “He didn’t want someone to buy it and develop it into something else. He was confident that we would keep the tradition going. That was a big deal to Harold. Forty-three years is a long time to own a business. He wanted to make sure that this stayed in the community.”

Aside from their first-hand experience operating a bowling alley, Dennis has owned pro shops at both Timber Lanes and Hazel Dell Lanes in the past. In 2011, the Baileys were instrumental in organizing and hosting the highly successful 62nd Clark County Open Bowling Tournament, which is the largest tournament held every year by the Clark County United States Bowling Congress (USBC).

The new owners intend to continue that tradition by hosting the Clark County Open at Tiger Bowl in April 2015, which will bring quite a few folks from the Vancouver area out to Battle Ground to participate and cheer on the competitors.

According to Robin, in the past couple of months, their bowlers from Bailey’s Classic Lanes have shown up to help with the restoration project in any way they can. The Battle Ground High School (BGHS) girls bowling team was one of the first groups to lend a hand painting and cleaning the space and a group of seniors came to cut down all the weeds that had grown up alongside the building.



Patrons of Tiger Bowl will notice the 1970s carpet has been replaced by laminate wood floors throughout and new vinyl flooring in the bathrooms. Lots of fresh paint, tile in the kitchen and refurbished lanes add a fresh look to the entire interior. The bar area and event space were included in the project and arcade games are being added to the event room for people to enjoy when the room is not in use.

There will also be a full-service pro shop at the renovated Tiger Bowl and Robin will be displaying bowling-related items she’s collected throughout the years as the finishing touches on the walls.

The Baileys have decided to strip down the menu to focus on classic bowling alley food like hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, tater tots and onion rings. They’ll also have breakfast items and weekly specials like homemade chili. Some people may not realize there’s a full bar inside Tiger Bowl and a selection of craft beers will be added to the offerings.

Robin shared that several years back her and Dennis helped start bowling teams for the Evergreen School District and they intend to continue that school support for North County high school teams, as well.

Tiger Bowl will continue to be open daily and host leagues as well as open bowling. Cosmic bowling will be offered on Saturday nights for $15 per person and patrons will appreciate free WiFi access throughout the building.

“It’s been a good experience so far and we’ve had a ton of people come by to help,’’ Robin said. “Bowling is such a great community. All these people just show up. It’s just been incredible.”

Bailey’s Tiger Bowl is located at 211 North Parkway Ave., Battle Ground and is open daily 10 a.m.-midnight. For more information, call (360) 719-8470 or connect with them on Facebook.