page_title: Kona Lanes
section_title: Closure and community response
hierarchical_section_title: Kona Lanes / Legacy / Closure and community response
caption_attribution_description: English: Kona Lanes sign at its permanent location within the American Sign Museum, taken by Tod Swormstedt, January 2014
context_page_description: Kona Lanes was a bowling center in Costa Mesa, California, that opened in 1958 and closed in 2003 after 45 years in business. Known for its futuristic design, it featured 40 wood-floor bowling lanes, a game room, a lounge, and a coffee shop that eventually became a Mexican diner. Built during the advent of Googie architecture, its Polynesian Tiki-themed styling extended from the large roadside sign to the building's neon lights and exaggerated rooflines.
  When Kona Lanes was demolished in 2003, it was one of the last remaining examples of the Googie style in the region; its sister center, Java Lanes in Long Beach, was razed in 2004. Much of Kona's equipment was sold prior to the demolition; the distinctive sign was saved and sent to Cincinnati, where a portion is on permanent display in the American Sign Museum.
  Costa Mesa's planning commission approved a proposal to build a department store on the site; following public outcry, those plans were scrapped. In 2010, the still-vacant land was rezoned for senior citizens' apartments and commercial development. Construction on the apartments began ten years after Kona Lanes was demolished.
context_section_description: Activity at Kona Lanes increased in its final days, due to the nostalgic value of potential keepsakes. Manager Juanita Johnson said people were asking to buy furniture, office equipment, and more. "Some of that is older than I am." The more substantial items, including the original wood lanes, had been sold off prior to demolition, while dumpster divers hit the parking lot each day, looking for any items of interest.
  The loss of Kona Lanes was a repeated topic at political events. One Costa Mesa city council candidate said he made a commitment to public service when the building was torn down with little resistance. Another would-be council member agreed that the demolition should never have happened.
  In 2012, Costa Mesa made plans to upgrade The Triangle, a retail space along Harbor Boulevard two miles south of the Kona Lanes site. Those plans featured a 10-lane bowling alley that opened in 2014. One city official said the center answered residents' longtime call for a new, upscale bowling facility.
caption: The surviving KONA LANES section of the sign on display in the American Sign Museum in 2014
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2014:01:03 13:39:05", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "240", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8192", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:01:03 13:39:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:01:03 13:39:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "255/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2144", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1608", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2144", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1608", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "3344", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2144000/243", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "804000/91", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}