Duckpin bowling is rolling back to Canton in time for the summer.
The developers behind a mixed-use project on the site of the former Patterson Bowling Center say they’re targeting a late spring or early summer opening for a new bowling alley on the building’s ground floor.
The alley, which has yet to be named, offers a replacement for the 95-year-old Patterson Bowling Center, which closed in December 2022. The building’s new owners, Jesse Vann and Kristian Spannhake of VS Development, purchased the Eastern Avenue property for about $750,000 and originally planned to dispense with bowling in favor of apartment units and a coffee shop, but changed their minds after community members and local leaders stepped in to lobby for keeping the duckpin tradition alive.
Duckpin bowling, which uses smaller balls and pins than tenpin bowling, has been a Baltimore pastime since the turn of the 20th century. Orioles players supposedly invented the twist on the sport in the 1890s, according to local lore, though that origin story remains unconfirmed and researchers have found references to duckpin bowling from around the same time in other East Coast communities.
After nearly a century in business, the laid-back Patterson Bowling Center was a community staple for birthday parties and hangouts for people of all ages. But the bowling alley showed its age, with paper scorecards and pinsetting machines that required frequent repairs. Vann and Spannhake decided to gut the alley and build a new one with a mix of duckpin and tenpin bowling lanes as well as arcade games like pinball.
Despite the new fixtures, they plan to imbue the revamped alley with “a funky retro feel,” Vann said.
On the second floor will be a bar serving cocktails and snacks like charcuterie and soft pretzels. The bowling alley won’t have a kitchen on-site, but Vann, who also operates an outdoor beer garden called Hampden Yards, said he plans to use warming trays to store prepared foods. The bowling alley and bar will have 59 seats indoors as well as an outdoor seating area.
Vann promised “moderately priced” drinks and snacks at the new business. “Our goal is to create incredible quality for the neighborhood, but at an affordable price,” he said.
To accommodate their original vision for a residential complex, he and Spannhake added a third story to the building, which will also be home to 15 apartments. The developers are hoping to obtain a use and occupancy permit for the property in the next four to six weeks, and would like to start moving in new tenants by early May. They recently updated the red-brick facade with a fresh, black-and-white paint job featuring the complex’s name, Patterson Pins.
An attorney for Vann and Spannhake told Baltimore Board of Liquor License Commissioners Thursday that the developers have invested $2 million into the project so far. Spannhake said they haven’t benefited from any federal, state or local financial assistance for the development, though they are looking into tax credit possibilities.
State legislators did, however, create a new beer, wine and liquor license for the bowling alley last year. Del. Luke Clippinger, a Baltimore Democrat, led the charge, sponsoring a bill that waives minimum food sales and seating capacity requirements for the business.
