Big Plans for Old Five Valley’s Bowling Center

Overview

Woodbury Corporation has purchased a property in Urban Renewal District III located at 1515 Dearborn Avenue, which is bounded by Russell and Washburn Streets and Dearborn and Fairview Avenues. The property currently contains the former Five Valley’s Bowling Center / Lucky Strike casino and a former car wash. The casino/bowling alley closed in early 2016. The car wash closed a few years ago.

At its July 21, 2016 meeting the MRA Board approved a request from the developer to proceed without prejudice with building deconstruction and site demolition.

Project Description

The developer is proposing to deconstruct the 30,000 sf bowling center and 2,200 sf carwash and build an approximately 12,000 sf tire store and two 9,500 sf restaurant pads, with an associated 152-space parking lot. The proposed site design also includes curb, sidewalk and landscape improvements in the public right-of-way, including 29 new street trees at the perimeter of the site.

The tire store will be a Les Schwab franchise that will move from its current location on Brooks Street to this site. The developer is proposing to locate the new Les Schwab on the eastern side of the site with the eight service bays facing the interior of the site and the rear façade of the building on Russell Street. A glass-walled show room is located at the north end, at the corner of Russell Street and Dearborn Avenue. This orientation focuses the building activity to the interior of the site and presents a large expanse of unanimated block wall along Russell Street.

To break up the extent of the rear façade along Russell Street, the developer is proposing a series of architectural elements including shallow “columns” and a decorative metal trellis and several panels of decorative screen mesh. A planting bed between the sidewalk and the building will provide some buffering.

The developer is anticipating that the two building sites on the west end of the site will attract restaurant tenants, although tenants have not yet been confirmed. The applicant has included a list of potential tenants that includes Kneaders, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Wild Ginger and Corner Bakery, among others.