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Wrecker's ball soon to replace bowling balls at Marin landmark
Michael Dougan, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Published 4:00 am, Sunday, August 29, 1999

"NOVATO - For 39 years, the quiet cacophony of crashing pins, punctuated by sharp shouts of delight and disappointment, has echoed through the cavernous interior of Novato's Nave Lanes.

Coming soon: silence.

Tuesday, the last strike will be struck, the last ball bowled. Nave Lanes will enter the annals of history, another landmark lying empty until the bulldozers show up.

The pink architectural eccentricity just east of U.S. 101 on Novato's south side will be razed to make way for retail outlets, erasing one more icon of Old Marin from the county's dense commercial corridor...

...Rich and Bob Nave sold their property to Idaho-based American Stores Inc., which owns Lucky Markets, for an undisclosed amount. American Stores already had purchased 6 adjacent acres on former Hamilton Air Force Base land.

Judie Decker, a Lucky Markets spokeswoman, said the deal was expected to close escrow soon. Then, the bowling alley will be demolished and a combination Lucky Market / Save-On Store will rise in its place.

Tuesday, Rich Nave expects his bowling alley to fill up with customers in the early throes of nostalgia. Perhaps there will be as many people as on Sept. 12, 1960, when opening day crowds stood elbow-to-elbow to admire the new facility..."

www.sfgate.com



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