Pali Lanes is added to list of historic places

Pali Lanes, one of the few surviving public bowling alleys on Oahu, has a new, if limited, lease on life following an affirmative decision by the Hawaii Historic Places Review Board on Friday.

The board voted to add the bowling alley to its list of protected historic places, potentially limiting landowner Alexander & Baldwin’s ability to redevelop the property.

The measure was approved 6-0, with one abstention and one recusal.

Darren Pai, A&B’s director of corporate communications, said A&B had asked the review board to defer a decision on whether to designate Pali Lanes as a historic place and was disappointed in Friday’s outcome. He said such a designation would add regulatory steps as A&B considers its options for the space.

The 57-year-old bowling alley has survived on shaky economic ground for the last several years but has rallied support from Kailua residents who see it as integral to the personality and character of the quickly changing neighborhood.

A&B announced Friday that it was extending the bowling alley’s lease on the property until January 2020 to allow for continued assessment of the alley’s financial future and ongoing discussions with residents in the area.

The existing lease, which was to expire in January, included four months of free rent to help the struggling business stay afloat. The new extended lease provides an additional 4-1/2 months of free rent, Pai said.

In March, A&B announced that it was suspending plans to redevelop its Kailua town holdings, which include the bowling alley, to engage in further discussions with the community.

According to Pai, the company has met with “hundreds” of concerned community members since then. It also sent out a survey to some 16,000 Kailua households soliciting input into the company’s future plans.

“Kailua is a special place, and it has undergone a lot of changes,” Pai said. “Our goal is to be a part of the community, and serving residents is important to us.”

Pai said A&B will continue to look at the condition of the building, the state of the bowling alley business and other factors in its evaluation of Pali Lanes’ long-term financial viability.

“What we want to do is come up with a range of possibilities and see how everybody feels,” Pai said.