Pittsfield alley plans reopening as K&M Bowling, with a new look, new name — and no expense spared

By Tony DoBrowolski

PITTSFIELD — George Mathes practically grew up in a bowling alley.

His father set pins by hand in local alleys during the 1920s, and as a kid Mathes spent many days watching the sport at the former Ken’s Bowl of Pittsfield.

His son, Mark, and his future wife, Kari, first met when they were kids at Ken’s Bowl.

“Bowling’s kind of in the blood, I guess,” George said.

So, it only makes sense that when an opportunity came up recently to buy the city’s last remaining bowling alley — Imperial Bowling Center — Mathes and his family jumped at it. They are giving the bowling alley on Dalton Avenue a complete makeover in hopes of reviving the sport in this city.

The Mathes clan, Mark and Kari, George and Mark’s brother, Joey, who make up the new ownership group, Mathes LLC, bought the alley for $840,000 in November. They are currently busy converting it from candlepin bowling to a tenpin alley with help from George’s wife, Dawn. They are hoping to reopen in late February or early March under the new name of K&M Bowling and Family Fun Center.

Fourteen new tenpin lanes are in the process of being installed at what will be K&M Bowling. Tenpin lanes are wider than the ones used for candlepins, because both the gutters and balls are larger, and the pins are a different size.

“We have an affection for tenpins,” Kari said.

Instead of a mechanical pinsetter, they are putting in a system operated by string, which provides a “faster cycle, keeps your lanes active” and allows bowlers “to enjoy a faster play,” according to Funk Bowling, an international manufacturer of bowling equipment.

The rest of the interior is being renovated to make the site more attractive to bowlers, too.

“We’re really hoping people will go, ‘wow,’” Kari added.

There should be a lot of interest. The Pittsfield Bowling Association had 550 members registered as tenpin bowlers when the organization ceased operations in 2020 after Ken’s Bowl closed, according to City Council President Peter Marchetti, who was a board member of the association.

“I think that all of us who are bowlers have been waiting for somebody to make an investment,” said Marchet-