Saturday afternoon was an open house at the Rose Bowl Events Center, a distinctive Route 66 bowling alley in Tulsa that was closed for a few years but has reopened as a music venue.
At least the Rose Bowl is back to its pink color.
Because of a noncompete clause with the previous owners, the Rose Bowl no longer can be used as a bowling alley. But that didn’t keep the current owner from using the wooden lanes for flooring in a few spots.
One thing that’s startling is how spacious the Rose Bowl is. It’s listed as having a capacity of 800 spectators, even with the plentiful tables and chairs dotted throughout.
But once a fire sprinkler system is installed, that spectator number can be raised up to 3,000.
According to another Rose Bowl site, it boasts 30,000 square feet.
The facility’s refreshments stand is operating, but another bar area isn’t quite finished. The glass block at the bar is a nice touch.
We had a nice chat with the operations manager. He told us some interesting tales about Outlaw country legend David Allan Coe, who was the semi-official first music headliner at the Rose Bowl.
The Rose Bowl’s MySpace page is here. To buy tickets for future events, go here, or check out the MySpace page.
For more about the Rose Bowl’s history, go here and here.