The Oxford Commons bowling center is scheduled to open to the public in mid-April. The center will be located at the Oxford Commons next to the Malco movie theater.
“It’s dependent on the construction schedule, but we hope to have it opening in mid April,” said Rick Bourgeois, vice president of Malco bowling operations.
Bourgeois has been running the bowling operations for Malco for over 30 years. He has opened bowling centers in Jackson, Memphis, Tennessee and cities on Louisiana.
The bowling center offers many entertainment options for all ages.
“It’ll have all of the newest bowling equipment, including interactive scoring, which is the newest version available anywhere in the world,” Bourgeois said. “We’ll have 14 lanes worth of regular bowling area — the furnishings now are more like couches — and a standard seating arrangement.”
There will also be separate areas in the bowling centers for people looking to have their own private event and have privacy from the rest of the bowling lanes, including an area which can seat a party of over 100.
“We have a VIP bowling area with six lanes where the lanes are spaced out more than standard separations,” Bourgeois said.
The bowling center offers a full service cafe and bar for bowlers, with the VIP area having its own separate bar area.
Bourgeois said the bowling center will not be a place consumed by bowling leagues.
“We try to always make sure that we have lanes open to the public, so there is always an opportunity waiting for the public,” Bourgeois said. “We don’t want it filled up with leagues. League play would mostly be early on Monday through Thursday, and the VIP area will never have league play in it and will be open for people who want to come and bowl on an impulse.”
In addition to the bowling lanes, the new addition to the Oxford Commons will offer an arcade area.
“We will have a redemption area, which uses a pre-loaded card swipe,” Bourgeois said. “Everything will be electronic. If you walk in, and you want to play the games, and you put $5 in, they’ll have $5 on a credit card, and you can use that anywhere in the bowling center. The card will also keep track of the amount of tickets won, so that you can redeem those for prizes.”
The theme of the bowling center will be unique to Oxford and The University of Mississippi.
“We’ve one something that is a special thing, which is indigenous to Oxford,” Bourgeois said. “Our masking units are specially made to where we are. The whole bowling center is themed around Ole Miss and the campus.”
Bourgeois said the bowling center will appeal to people of all ages.
“It’s available for someone who wants to be in an area with a birthday party and if someone wanted to have a private bachelor party or a sorority function in the VIP area. They could do that, and they wouldn’t even be around where the kids are,” Bourgeois said. “If someone wanted to have a league going on at the same time, those areas are all separate. We have walls that can be moved to isolate different areas if they want to have separate events.”
Both students and locals are excited that Oxford will have another source of entertainment that won’t be dependent on the university.
“Oxford is way overdue for more sources of entertainment,” said junior real estate major Thomas Galvin. “I’m glad this planned unit of development is bringing bowling to the community, and I might think about starting a bowling league.”
“I think the new bowling alley is going to be great,” Oxford resident Jacob Rinker said. “It’ll be nice to have other activities in this town for all ages. I know I’m looking forward to it.”
The main message Bourgeois hopes to send is the entertainment factor for the public.
“Malco is celebrating their 100th anniversary of being in the movie theater industry and 60 years of being in the bowling industry,” Bourgeois said. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to put the two next to each other for families and friends to be entertained.”
The bowling center will host a job fair the third week in March.
