Bowling alleys starting to open up outside of Hamilton County, but not yet inside

Bowling pins are set in place Thursday, March 12, 2015, at the Southside Social bowling alley in Chattanooga, Tenn. The business officially opened last week. / Staff file photo by Doug Strickland
Bowling pins are set in place Thursday, March 12, 2015, at the Southside Social bowling alley in Chattanooga, Tenn. The business officially opened last week. / Staff file photo by Doug Strickland

While bowling alleys outside of Hamilton County have either opened up or are in the process of doing so, those within the city limits aren't ready to take that leap yet.

In North Georgia, bowling alleys opened up on April 24 and have been operating under modified circumstances.

On Tuesday, Tennessee governor Bill Lee announced that businesses such as bowling alleys and miniature golf were allowed to reopen in 89 of the state's 95 counties. Health departments in Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Shelby and Sullivan were told they would have to "issue their own guidance on those businesses."

(READ MORE: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee plans for new COVID-19 contact tracers)

Hamilton County is following the state's lead in allowing bowling alleys to open, but bowling alleys in Chattanooga say they are remaining closed, at least for now.

All around Chattanooga though, places are slowly re-opening. Crystal Lanes Bowling in Evensville, Tenn., in Rhea County opened up Friday afternoon at 5, although league play will remain suspended. Leisure Time Bowling in Cleveland will reopen on Monday. According to their website, hours of operation have changed to 1-8 p.m., with only 70 people allowed in the building.

Temperatures are being checked at the door and no cash is being accepted. Bowling balls of all sizes are being made available on the assigned lanes and the workers are sanitizing all surfaces and bowling balls after each lane is finished.

"We want our community to be able to enjoy the bowling facility a safe manner," a statement on the company's website said, adding that a failure to comply with the health and safety standards will "result in ejection without the option of a refund."

Miracle's Cosmic Bowling in Dalton is only open from Thursday through Sunday, opening at 1 p.m. each day and at midnight on Friday and Saturday and at 10 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday.

Chattanooga has four bowling alleys: Leisure Time Bowling, Southside Social, Spare Time Bowling and Splitz Alley. Each company has chosen to exercise caution before choosing to reopen, instead taking that time to do levels of deep cleaning and sanitizing while they await the official confirmation from the Hamilton County health department.

"It'll be interesting to see what it's like when everything is eventually back open again," said Rachel Cox, assistant general manager at Splitz Alley. "But obviously it'll be a while until we get back to everyone was used to before."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.

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