Two years after he moved to Ames to open a Lincoln Mercury dealership, Floyd Penkhus and his brother and partner, Bob, decided Ames could use a bowling center. In 1949, Floyd purchased land on the west side of South Duff four blocks south of Lincoln Way. The two brothers along with partner, Jack Hoeppner, built both a bowling center and a roller skating rink called Skateland. They also built a miniature golf course between the two buildings.
Owner Floyd Penkhus with some young bowlers
First Structure
The original bowling alley building was constructed with a curved roof and 12 inch concrete block walls, similar to that of the Skateland structure. Plans were followed to allow 12 lanes of play, and on October 16, 1949 20th Century Bowling was open for business. At first, college kids were hired to hand-set the pins, one for each pair of lanes. That job provided an income of $10 per night, working from 6:30 to 9 pm, until 1956 when automatic pin setters were installed.
Expansion
In 1960 another curved roof addition was constructed to accomodate an additional 12 bowling lanes. The original side wall was demolished and 6 posts were used to support the weight where the double curved roof joined. A new stone false front was constructed to hide the roofline.
Workers laying the bowling alley floor, 1960
Installing Pin Setting machine.
Flooding
At the time of original construction, both the Skateland and 20th Century Bowling buildings were about 2 feet above the road surface of Highway 69. The road bed was eventually raised, however, so that the buildings stood one foot below grade in 1975 when the nearby Ioway Creek overflowed its banks and invaded the bowling alley. All the pine and maple flooring needed to be replaced. The creek again overwhelmed the structure in 1990 when brush and trees plugged up the riverbed.
The Flood of 2010 marked the end of 20th Century Bowling. The last business started by Floyd Penkhus on South Duff closed.
Flood Damage, 2010
