Bowling alleys, museums ready to reopen after 94-day wait
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The last businesses to open up in Indiana have a mixed reaction to Mayor Joe Hogsett’s announcement Thursday.
For bowling alleys, museums and bars, their wait of over 12 weeks will have another eight days as places that have been closed since March 17 can finally unlock their doors for the first time.
That 94-day closure amounts to more than 25% of 2020.
For months, Action Bowl in the Fountain Square Building has been anything but that.
“It reminds me of when we first opened because there was nothing up here but pigeons in 1993 when we came here,” said Linton Calvert with a laugh, the president of both Action and Atomic bowling alleys.
The duckpin lanes have been closed for months along with all the other bowling alleys in the state. About 30 employees for various businesses in the building laid off.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Calvert said.
While savings from previous years was helpful, it was personal protective equipment loan that Calvert calls the lifeblood to not shut down for good.
Things here were all ready to reopen Friday until Indianapolis’ Democrat mayor announced Marion County would push back a week.
“You anticipate and you hope for the best, so that’s what we were doing,” Calvert said.
It’s all quiet at the Indiana State Museum, too.
“Museums actually are not,” said President and CEO Cathy Ferree.
She adds 12 weeks of planning during an uncertain time is paying off.
“Yeah, it was music to our ears when the governor said it yesterday and when the mayor said it today.”
But some things will look a little different here.
There’s plexiglass at the counter and there will be a suggested linear route to help social distancing. But the biggest change is closing on almost all Tuesdays. besides around the holidays and school holidays like spring and fall breaks, to cut costs on a day that traditionally sees fewer guests.
“We’re just really hoping people will trust us and come out, really take advantage of the opportunity to be at the museum, to be at our sites,” Ferree said.
One thing unchanged is the FIX exhibit on the opioid crisis.
Ferree said the pandemic and its associated isolation makes it more relevant and relatable to all guests now more than ever.
“We feel it will be as important if not more important after the quarantine,” she said.
The action ready to begin on the bowling lanes too. Calvert said every other lane will be used, reservations will be strongly encouraged, the bowling balls will be cleaned after each group and bowlers will be able to wear their own shoes.
Calvert just hopes when the weather cools and his business really heats up, there’s no limit on capacity.
“Without us getting back into full swing, we could not survive this year,” he said. “We have to get back into full swing and with that, we’re just hoping it happens sooner rather than later.”
As for what will happen once some of these larger venues are able to open, Ferree may have put it best:
“Iit’s like throwing a party and hoping the guests come.”
But she and other business owners hope, after 13 weeks and counting of staying home and a lot of electronics, families will be ready for other types of entertainment.