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Lava Lanes ready to roll Photos by Bob Pennell/Mail Tribune Allen Bruce of Bend cleans up around the seating area. By Don Hunt Forty bowling lanes. An arcade that features 60 state-of-the-art games. A roomy sports bar that boasts eight 120-inch TV screens and 32 smaller screens. A full-service restaurant. Rogue Valley bowling enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting the opening of Lava Lanes next week. The lavish $6.2 million, 50,000 square foot facility on Crater Lake Highway near Delta Waters Road will officially open its doors at 9 a.m Tuesday. "This is a spectacular facility, one of the best on the West Coast," says Chuck Eilenberger, who has bowled in Medford for the past 30 years. "How could anyone in their right mind not get excited about it?" The new lanes are the brainchild of Ric Donnelly, a Roseburg native who once drove a bread truck for a living. Donnelly, 37, is the managing partner of an owners group that includes Bend�s Jay Andia and Les Mombert and Portland�s Jim Robinson. The foursome also owns Lava Lanes in Bend and Indian Lanes in Roseburg. "Jay and I got the ball rolling about five years ago," Donnelly says. "He owns a bunch of stores in the Sunriver area and I used to deliver bread to them. "He told me one time that if I had any good business ideas to throw them his way. When the house in Roseburg went up for sale, I gave him a call." Andia then contacted Mombert, who owns a number of rental equipment outlets in Eastern Oregon, and the independently wealthy Robinson, and a bowling business partnership was born. The group bought Indian Lanes in 1995, built Lava Lanes in Bend in 1997 and, leaning heavily on profits from its success, rebuilt the Roseburg center � it too will soon be named Lava Lanes � and made plans for Medford. Much thought went into the planning. The group hired a nationally renowned marketing firm in Kentucky to analyze whether the new bowling centers in Bend and Medford would fly. And it contracted with a design company that came up with the bright colors and fancy logos that embellish Lava Lanes� floors and walls. Donnelly also wanted a place that offered more than bowling. The 6,000 square foot sports bar is likely to become a popular place for college and pro football fans this fall. With 16 satellites and 40 screens, Donnelly will be able to show every NFL game on any given Sunday. Donnelly has also applied for the Oregon Lottery. For kids, the center offers a 3,000 square foot arcade. The main attraction is likely to be a virtual reality NASCAR racing game that can accommodate four people at once. The game was originally installed in a Las Vegas casino at a cost of $180,000. "We�ve got one at the center in Bend and people go nuts over it," Donnelly says. League play on the lanes will kick off Sept. 7. Unlike most bowling centers, smoking will not be permitted at Lava Lanes except in the bar area. The ban has been popular at the two other facilities, Donnelly says. "We�re hoping to get a lot of the families back into bowling who quit coming because they couldn�t stand the smoke," Donnelly says. Eilenberger, an ex-smoker, supports the policy. "Everyone will benefit," he says. "Bowlers who smoke will have to step outside or go to the bar. I know some guys who are trying to quit and maybe this will help." Donnelly, who moved to Central Point from Bend earlier this summer, says the center will be host to state and regional tournaments and vows to bring a Professional Bowlers Association tournament to the center, perhaps as early as next January. The Medford facility will employ about 50 workers, Donnelly says, with 30 of them working full-time. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA