The Tower Bowl once located in downtown San Diego was a true highlight of the streamline moderne era. Below is a portion of the history we've put together behind this amazing work of art.
If you happened to be in San Diego in 1942, whether as a resident, a vacationer, or a serviceman stationed at one of the local military bases, and were looking for an evening’s activity, you would find the answer downtown at the corner of Broadway and Kettner. There you would find an incredible Art Deco building with a dramatic eighty-foot curved steel tower, adorned with rotating bowling balls five feet in diameter, spelling out "The Tower Bowl" on one side and "Bowling" on the other . In case you somehow missed the sign, the entire building, along with the sign, were adorned with over a thousand feet of brilliant neon.
Tower Bowl was designed for A. J. Hanson by one of the premier architects on the West Coast - S. Charles Lee. Mr. Lee designed many of the beautiful theatres found throughout Southern California. Showplaces such as Tower Theatre in Los Angeles, Fox Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills, Studio Theatre in Hollywood, and what is considered to be the ultimate in Streamline Moderne design – the Academy Theatre in Inglewood. The majority of Mr. Lee's buildings were opulent palaces and Tower Bowl was no exception. When it opened in 1941, Tower Bowl was billed as a complete entertainment complex, offering two cocktail lounges, a billiard room, fine food, a dance floor, seating for 400 spectators, and 28 maple lanes. Entering from Broadway, visitors walked across a beautiful terrazzo floor past the cocktail lounge towards the bowling lanes at the ........
Further history, additional historic images and our Tower Bowl shirt, available for purchase can be found on the Vintage Roadside website located
here.
If you have additional history or information about the Tower Bowl we'd love to hear from you.