Post #279491 by SugarCaddyDaddy on Thu, Jan 18, 2007 12:55 AM

oldschoolsocalguy wrote:
...If anyone drives by and would be so kind to post a pic, I would be forever grateful.

Here are pictures from May 2006 (almost exactly 3 years since Kona Lanes closed). As you can see, absolutely no progress has been made to the lot. It's almost hard to believe that Kona Lanes used to be in that empty space and it's a shame that it seems to have been torn down without purpose since there had previously been this 'uproar' of needing to put a Kohls or similar type of retail shopping store there. I am by this lot about every other day and it still looks the same as it did when I took the pics last year.

A closeup just to show you that even trash has been left there with no one even cleaning up the lot:

oldschoolsocalguy, I grew up in Costa Mesa as well. The name of the pizza place was Ball Park Pizza. Also, do you remember Haus of Pizza that was there across the street (and still is), as well as Calentino's on the other side of the street, which also has been around since 1969 and is still going strong to this day. The Von's is still there, and maybe you remember:

• Music Market: the place to go to get all of your vinyl, 45's and your Farrah Fawcett red-bikini poster.
• Bilbo Baggins: one of the first places in Costa Mesa to actually introduce Open Mic Night.
• Ice Capades: which went from "Ice Capades" to "Ice Capades Chalet", then finally to "Costa Mesa Ice Chalet"
• Swensen's Ice Cream...then turned into a Ben & Jerry's, then finally to a "Baguette" place.

Do these spark some memories?

Last note: The buildings you see behind the empty Kona lot are now occupied by Vons, FastFrame, Gina's Pizza, Juice it Up!, Starbucks, Costa Mesa Federal Credit Union, Newport Tanning Club, Submarina Sandwiches, and a few other franchise-type businesses, which is the way most commercial real estate brokers are going...with the larger, "safer", franchised retail establishments rather than with the mom 'n pop businesses.