EFH firms file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection 2A Maj. Gen. Richard Nash sworn in by Gov. Pawlenty 7A Lost Spur Golf Course to build new clubhouse 44A
JOHN GESSNER T.W. BUDIG JESSICA HARPER
dakotacountytribune.biz dakotacountytribune.biz
DATE ##, 2009 NOVEMBER 4, 2010
VOLUME 30, NUMBER # VOLUME 31, NUMBER 36
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Clouds lifting on Burnsville Bowl
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INSIDE BIZ FORUM
DANE SMITH
A recent study shows where you live can determine how long you live. More needs to be done to rid inequities. 4A
FORUM
Workers will need to improve their skills to compete in a changing job market — one that is seeking educated employees. DON HEIZMANN 4A
New owners say they’ll return the longtime business to its bowling roots by John Gessner DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Burnsville Bowl, which closed under a cloud July 6 after 42 years in business, will reopen under new ownership. Mattie and Chris Ross, the owners of Mattie’s Lanes, Sports Bar and Grille in South St. Paul, purchased the bank-owned Burnsville property at the end of September, Chris said. The Burnsville City Council approved a liquor license for the new owners Nov. 1. Chris said she and her husband hope to open by New Year’s Eve. The bowling and nightclub complex at 1200 E. Highway 13 is being renamed Mattie’s Lanes, Sports Bar and Grille-Burnsville. Chris said the bowling center is undergoing extensive renovation and will be the focus of the business, not the nightclub that got the previous owner in trouble with police, nearby residents and the City Council. “Just looking at the center and all its problems, we knew we could overcome all of those,� she said. “We’re first and foremost bowling-center operators and owners.� Police said earlier this year that Burnsville Bowl’s 1200 Club nightclub had averaged 100 police calls a year over a three-year period. An earlymorning fight on March 4 ended with a shot being fired from a sport-utility vehicle in the parking lot. There had
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BUSINESS 101
BOB VOSS
Follow seven easy steps to starting a business the smart way. The more you learn, the more successful your business will be. 6A
FINANCIAL SENSE
Cut the f inancial umbilical cord with adult children. Parents cannot afford to be indifferent. PETER MCCLELLAN 6A
File photo by Rick Orndorf
Closed under a cloud in July, Burnsville Bowl now has new owners who hope to reopen in time for New Year’s Eve. Chris later managed AMF Southtown Lanes for seven years. The couple, who have three sons, bought Wells Lanes on Concord Street in South St. Paul in early 2007. The business was losing money “quickly and fiercely,� Chris Ross said, but the couple have invested about $400,000 in upgrades, from See Burnsville Bowl, Page 43A
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been another gunfire incident in January. No one was hurt in the incidents, which further tarnished the club’s reputation. Police and even Mayor Elizabeth Kautz pinned at least part of the blame on Wednesday hip-hop DJ nights and their clientele. The March 4 shooting had followed a hip-hop event. Frustrated City Council members renewed Burnsville Bowl’s annual liquor license on June 8 but tacked on a review after three months. A month later the business closed, with ownership reverting from Bob Hatten to his lender, Commercial Bank. Hatten’s attempts to sell the business had failed. “I think they were focusing too much on the liquor end of it, not on the bowling end of it,� Ross said. “It’s Burnsville Bowl. It’s a bowling center. Unfortunately, I think he put all his ducks into the bar and not into the bowling facilities.� The Rosses’ business background is in bowling. Mattie bowled in junior leagues as a kid and worked as a mechanic at Medina Bowl, Chris said. She caught the bug after they met and worked as a waitress at the Earle Brown Lanes Bowling Center in Brooklyn Center and at Spectrum Lanes in Maple Grove, where she became assistant manager and Mattie coowned the pro shop.
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