Since the late 1950s, the Crestwood Bowl has hosted family entertainment in the namesake St. Louis suburb. However, like most bowling alleys, it has endured struggles to stay afloat as bowling has been eclipsed by the ever-growing list of potential, entertainment-dollar outlets. The sign features the requisite, supersized bowling pin, an angular-faced sign with a serif typeface that hints at the Googie architectural era of its birth, and a secondary face that celebrates a then-revolutionary development – “Automatic Scoring.” Unfortunately, the sign had its neon removed years ago; replacing broken tubing and restoring the entire signface was cost-prohibitive.
However, the sign has been restored to its former glory. Because of its proximity to the Mother Road, the owners, father and son Mike and Ray Bluth (the Bluth family has owned the alley since 1973), partnered with Missouri’s Route 66 Assn. and applied for a grant through the National Park Service’s (NPS) Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The sign is one of only three in St. Louis County to have earned the St. Louis County Historic Buildings Commission’s County Landmark designation. Approximately a year later, the NPS awarded $9,500 to install new exposed neon on the sign. To celebrate the event, the Crestwood Bowl held a relighting ceremony on October 20. Dave Hudson, a St. Louis-based neon provider, and Sign Crafters, an 80-year-old, St. Louis shop, handled installation.
Competition will persist for the Bluths; in the District at Crestwood, a proposed lifestyle center that would be built nearby, a contemporary bowling alley is part of the plan. However, a fully operational neon sign will help Crestwood Bowl – the incumbent – hold a competitive edge.