Picture Windsor Locks - Then And Now

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — The latest installment of this pictorial history series takes us to a long-ago shot of a business which is still located in the same spot decades later, albeit with a new name, under new ownership and looking virtually nothing like it did back in the day.

Bradley Bowl was built in 1960 on Turnpike Road (now known as Route 75, specifically at 129 Ella Grasso Turnpike), according to Windsor Locks land records. It rose in stature when it began hosting a Professional Bowlers Association Tour event in Aug. 1974, the Home Box Office Open. That's right, HBO in its infancy sponsored a pro bowling tournament in Windsor Locks. Though most remember the cable network bursting into prominence in the late 1970s, it actually launched in Nov. 1972.

PBA Hall of Famer Nelson Burton Jr. won that initial pro event at Bradley, then repeated his victory the following year, the first of two seasons as the Midas Open. He was among 13 Hall of Famers who earned Tour event championships at the center, including legendary names like Earl Anthony, Mark Roth, Pete Weber and Mike Aulby.

After Tommy Hudson won the lone Monro-Matic Open in 1977, the tournament changed its name to the familiar Greater Hartford Open in 1978. After the BPAA U.S. Open was contested at Bradley in 1979 and 1980, the name reverted to Greater Hartford Open for the next 10 years, with the exception of 1985, when crooner Pat Boone lent his name to the event.

A five-year run as the Tums Classic ended in 1995, going back to Greater Hartford Open the following season. In 1997, Bradley hosted the Ebonite Challenge, the last of 24 consecutive years a PBA event took place at the center. Since the turn of the century, only the 2003 Cambridge Credit Classic was in Windsor Locks.

Despite the loss of the professionals, Bradley Bowl offered tremendous competition for league bowlers, as well as plenty of lanes for recreational bowling. In 2004, the Vermont-based Corley family purchased the center for $1.775 million.

With times changing, the bowling center was closed for renovations in 2018. The name was changed to Spare Time, and the focus shifted to becoming an all-inclusive family entertainment center. In addition to bowling, an 80-game arcade, laser tag arena and two escape rooms were added.

Below is a photo of Bradley Bowl taken by Jerry Dougherty shortly before the makeover, followed by a look at the site today, courtesy of Google Maps.

Do you have a photo of an old Windsor Locks business which no longer exists, to which you own the copyright, and which we could feature in this column? Email tim.jensen@patch.com.

To register for free Windsor Locks-East Windsor news alerts and more, click here.