Bowling and snacks are half-price this long weekend at Nechako Bowling Lanes for the grand re-opening of one of the city’s oldest recreation facilities.
New owner Michael Giles was still putting the finishing touches on the eight-lane five-pin bowling alley at 1665 Third Ave to prepare for a busy four days of pin-scattering action.
He spent the past month renovating the place, opening up sightlines and giving it a new coat of paint inside and out. He’s given Nechako Lanes a new lease on life, just as an unidentified donor gave to him a year ago in June when Giles underwent a double-lung transplant at Vancouver General Hospital.
He needed a new set of lungs after developing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which led to severe scarring and stiffening of his lungs. It got to the point where he was unable to breathe without using 12-15 litres per day of bottled oxygen.
“I didn’t smoke, but I developed this condition which basically meant my lungs were going to concrete,” said Giles, a 62-year-old native of Melville, Sask.
“I tell people it is a gift with weight, it’s not a sad thing but pretty heavy when you think about it sometimes, to realize what has to happen for you to continue on,” he said.
“At the time of my surgery I had maybe two weeks left to go. My heart would have given out trying to pump the blood to oxygenate it.”
Giles worked 30 years in television production and moved to Prince George in 2011 to try to find work as a helicopter pilot and ended up working in the TV studio at CKPG. He expressed an interest in buying the bowling alley before COVID hit but the pandemic and his own health issues put that idea on hold.
He was undergoing treatment at G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver and had been on the transplant list for just three weeks when his doctor told him an anonymous donor had been found and he had the operation that day. It took several months to recover from the 10-hour procedure and aside from tightness in his chest, 13 months after receiving his lungs, he’s feeling healthy enough to tackle running his own business.
“I bowl in the league here anyway, and it always interested me, and I wanted something fun to do in my retirement ages,” said Giles.
“Bowling across Canada is on the rise. After COVID a lot of people were looking for things to do, especially indoor activities, and this is one of them. This bowling lane, being the oldest in Prince George, we have over 120 league bowlers, so it’s still doing quite well. My plan is to do this until I’m 75, sell everything and go traveling.”
Nechako Lanes was opened nearly 73 years ago on Nov. 8, 1950 by original owner Bill Jamieson when it was known as Jamieson Bowling and Recreation Hall. A crowd of nearly 500 bowlers and Mayor Garvin Dezell turned out for the grand opening and Jamieson, a Rotarian, donated all the proceeds of opening day to the Prince George Rotary Club.
Giles is leasing the building from owners Les and Cathy Wahlund with an option to buy in three years. Giles teaches martial arts and plans to convert the basement and open it next year as the Northern Shotokan Karate Academy.
Kids 12 and under bowl for free this weekend. The hall will be open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. starting today through Monday. Summer hours are noon-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. In September once the leagues start up it will be open daily from 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
