Operation Save Our Lanes

Historic Black Owned Bowling Alley Faces Closure

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SKYWAY BOWL is America's only Black-owned United States Bowling Congress certified professional league bowling facility. We are raising money to provide a means for us to expand our operations our and spread awareness about the sport of bowling in our community on Chicagos Southeast Side. 

SKYWAY BOWL is a staple of Chicago's Southeast side community with a legacy spanning over 75 years. Our goal is to establish a strong foundation for the continued existence of this relic for future generations to come!

Here are a few of the ways in which SKYWAY BOWL is a staple of our community here on Chicago’s Southeast Side: 

i) Skyway Bowl is the primary bowling facility for the City of Chicago Public School system. We host 32 schools within the CPS system as well as a few schools in the Catholic School League. This includes the hosting of reginal and state tournaments.

ii) We are a primary choice for fundraising events by multiple organizations throughout the city to include local churches, nonprofits, and the Divine 9 Black Greek Organizations.

iii) We host an annual Christmas toy and back to school supply drive for the children sponsored by select charities here on Chicago’s Southside.

iv) We also host leagues for the local fire and police departments in districts located on Chicago’s Southside. This builds camaraderie amongst these public forces.

Although our business is generating enough income to stay open, we have been holding on by a thread operating month to month. It has been particularly has difficult since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We lost nearly half of our league revenues which are our primary source of revenue. Weekly Bowling leagues are the monetary lifeblood for our business and we want to raise awareness and money to help us grow and sustain our operations. 

Secondly, the antiquated property taxing system of Cook County assess our property taxes based on inflated property values. As a result, we are paying more than we should for property taxes because the real value of our property is much less than the assessed value at which our property taxes are based. This annual bill puts a strain on our income and makes it difficult for us to invest in the expansion of our operations.

Many small businesses are struggling during these economic times as the world further embraces a global economy. We started this campaign because we believe in the power of the little guy and understand that if people on the ground stick together we can maintain and build our local communities from the ground up.

THE ROAD TO 1 MILLION DOLLARS: 

It is our goal to raise 1,000,000 USD which will be used to accomplish the following three goals: 

1. Pay off the remaining balance of the mortage;

2. Pay off the remaining balance of the COVID 19 relief loan

3. Renovate a portion of the property

Operation Save Our Lanes will occur over the course of 3 phases; each with a seperate monetary milestone. 

PHASE 1 

The monetary milestone for PHASE 1 is 100,000 USD. The money from this first round of fundraising will be used for the following:

1. Upgrading the Entry Driveways EST Cost: $30,000

Concreting the 3 entry driveway’s 

of our parking lot. This will prevent us from needing to repair the most used portion of our parking lot every few years. Photos coming soon! 

2. Remodeling the women’s and men’s restrooms

EST COST: $20,000

Our bathrooms have not been renovated for quite a while and they are overdue for an overhaul to provide a better customer experience. Photos coming soon! 

3. Remodeling our front counter: $10,000

4. Buying new bowling shoes: $5,000

The remaining $35,000 of this phase will either roll into PHASE 2 or be used for other projects such as new flooring throughout the facility. 

PHASE 2

The monetary milestone for PHASE 2 is 600,000 USD. The money from this second round of fundraising will be used for the following:

1. Pay off the largest debts which include the mortgage and the COVID 19 EIDL loan: $600,000

PHASE 3

This phase marks the completion of our goal to raise a total amount of $1,000,000. The final amount of money from this final milestone will be used for the following:

1. New POS with integrated bowl scoring system 2. ESTIMATE COST COMING SOON 

2. New seating ESTIMATE COST COMING SOON

 3. Replacement flooring ESTIMATE COST COMING SOON

 4. Restaurant and meeting room buildout ESTIMATE COST COMING SOON

Lastly, we want to install GSX pinsetters. ESTIMATE COST COMING SOON

Continued Operations 

Once we pay off our debt and renovate our place we will expand operations. This will allow us to hire a professional staff to assist with the management of this historical relic. 

Lastly, we will fund The Johnny and Mary Hill Legacy Center, a non profit that will be operated within Skyway Bowl to:

1. Promote awareness about the sport of bowling through local programs for school aged children and adolescents and

2. Promote other programming for positive growth and self improvement within our community.

Once we reach our goal, we will be able to use our current revenue to invest in the growth of our operations. If we are able to do this, we will be able to amplify our impact in the community. One of the ways we plan to do this is by opening a non profit arm with the mission to promote youth bowling programs around the City of Chicago. We also want to spread awareness about the benefits of bowling to also increase adult and senior participation in our adult leagues. Bowling is an easily accessible sport for everyone and we want to promote the growth of this sport.

If you believe in this operation, please donate today to help us roll on along to save our lanes. 

SKYWAY'S WEBSITE: https://www.skywaybowlchicago.com

FACEBOOK: @SKYWAY BOWL

INSTAGRAM: SKYWAYBOWL_CHI

X: COMING SOON!!