Holiday Bowl, Bowling alley in Crenshaw District, Los Angeles, US.
Holiday Bowl was a bowling center on Crenshaw Boulevard featuring large windows, sculptural roof forms, and a coffee shop designed in Googie style. The facility included bowling lanes, a pool hall, bar service, and dining areas.
Five Japanese-American entrepreneurs founded this bowling center in 1958 as a gathering space for communities returning from World War II internment camps. It remained an important meeting place in the neighborhood for many years.
The venue served diverse foods including hamburgers, udon noodles, grits, and spicy sausages, reflecting the many cultures of its visitors. This mix of dishes made it a gathering place for people from different neighborhoods across the city.
The facility was open 24 hours daily to accommodate work schedules of the local community. This extended availability made it a flexible gathering spot at any time of day.
The coffee shop section was named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2000, just three years before the entire building was torn down in 2003. This short window of recognition preserved the memory of a place that quickly disappeared from the landscape.
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