Bremerton Lanes is on a roll

It looks like Bremerton Lanes will open this fall after all.

Frank Evans bought the empty West Park Lanes building with plans to refurbish the space and turn it into Bremerton Lanes, but he ran into complications with the city of Bremerton planning department.

“We’re hoping to open the doors by the end of the month,” Evans said.

The hiring process for the bowling alley was also restarted — Evans had to stop it while he waited for his building permit, which he received about two weeks ago.

Chris Hugo, the director of community development, said the city was waiting for Evans to meet landscaping and parking requirements before issuing a permit, but they have now signed an agreement giving Evans a year to make the improvements.

If Evans does not finish the improvements within a year of opening, he will have to give the city the funds to finish the project, according to Hugo.

“We want some financial assurance that this will be done,” Hugo said.

Normally in these types of agreements, Hugo said the city only offers permit applicants six months to meet requirements after they have opened for business.

He said he’s planning to meet with the Bremerton City Council to set guidelines for scenarios when a year can be offered to applicants.

“Since day one we’ve been trying to accommodate this developer,” Hugo said. “We have to treat everybody equally.”

When Bremerton Lanes is open it will have a restaurant, bar, billiards, pull tabs and 36 bowling lanes. Everything will be open for 24 hours except the bar, which will close at 2 a.m.

Evans had originally planned to open a mini-casino inside the bowling alley but because of permitting complications with the city, he put those plans on hold.

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