The contents and historic sign of the now-closed 66 Bowl in Oklahoma City will be auctioned on-site and online on Friday, reported The Oklahoman newspaper.
Dakil Auction said registration for the auction will begin at 9 a.m. Friday, with the auction beginning at 10. Go here for more information about the items and about the auction.
The nearby Spices of India grocery bought 66 Bowl for $1.4 million, according to property records. The conversion of the bowling alley to a grocery and restaurant will be complete by the end of the year, reported the Oklahoman.
The auction was originally planned for August, but a delay in the closing of the property’s sale forced it to reschedule.
66 Bowl, built in 1959, was sold by 78-year-old owner Jim Haynes after one of his investments went sour, according to an Associated Press report.
UPDATE: The Associated Press has a new story about the upcoming auction. New tidbit: The owner wants a minimum $50,000 for the sign.
Just got back from the auction. The seats on the bowling alley floor sold for less than $1 each. The bidding on the sign started at $50k, dropped to $40k, then $10k and finally $5k. Nobody moved to bid at all. I overheard the owner say he would rather donate it, but the auctioneer left things open by askiing folks interested in the sign to talk with him later.
A very very sad day for Route 66 icons
The only thing sad was losing the original bowling alley itself, which yes, is very sad on Route 66. But the owner getting $1.4 million for a 1959 bowling alley is a modern day fortune miracle in this economy. As for the auction, while that’s one heck of a steal on the neon sign, unless you’re a millionaire needing a private bowling alley in your own home, there didn’t seem like much of anything else of interest to buy other than a vending machine, bus, a little neon or otherwise. The rest of the stuff listed didn’t really seem old enough to be appreciated? A plastic seat from a retro bowling alley, would be more of a thing to someone’s personal experience at the actual location, a kin to a favorite sports team or something from an old stadium venue being torn down? If it wasn’t your team, and it wasn’t as antique as a wooden one or something, it probably wouldn’t get a lot of interest. Again, the big loss was the bowling alley on Route 66 itself! There’s still a lot of motels, restaurants and gas stations out there – but it’s the entertainment value of bowling alleys, movie theatres and so on we need to try and save and keep for the future. Probably not too far off in the distant future, even adults will be saying – what’s a bowling alley?!!! Today’s generation next, didn’t grow up outdoors and doing physical activities, they grew up indoors playing video games, doing their homework on computers and such…
I went to the auction today as well. As stated previous, there was not much to bid on that was old enough or original enough to be appreciated. I was surprised that the checkerboard style lockers only went for twenty-five bucks each.