Tropic Lanes & The Islander, Cedar Rapids, IA (other) - Locating Tiki

M Mo-Eye Member Taboo Island, USA Joined: May 17, 2006 Posts: 646	M Mo-Eye Posted posted on Fri, May 22, 2009 7:55 PM Name:Tropic Lanes & The Islander Type:other Street:124 3rd Street NE City:Cedar Rapids State:IA Zip: country:USA Phone: Status:defunct Description: Had to take a break from Florida to give another state a chance! Just found this in Cedar Rapids, Iowa - The Tropic Lanes Bowling Alley and The Islander Polynesian Room inside. It looks like The Islander opened in December, 1963, but I found mention of the Tropic Lanes in existence as early as 1959. When you read the local paper there, you can tell that bowling was a big deal there. Local scores got more coverage than major league Baseball! Found this great ad from 12/13/1963 about its opening :down: Lists "As Hawaiian as Diamond Head itself! See the totem poles - three faced god - fishing god - banjo player!" Banjo player kind of scares me, but I guess that was the closest thing you could find to an ukulele in Iowa at the time. Lists some great features such as basket lights from the Orient, bamboo thatched roofs, sea shell lamps and Polynesian appetizers and cocktails. Here's another 1963 ad :down: One of the odd things is that there were lots of small text only ads each year saying that "The Islander is Now Open", but they only ran in the winter months. Is there a chance that The Islander was only open during the winter? Don't know how long The Islander lasted, but the Tropic Lanes building was demolished in 1973. There were multiple mentions of the "Danceland Ballroom" which was above the Tropic Lanes and very popular. Wonder if that replaced The Islander at some point in the 60s? Here are a couple pics of the building, dating to the late 60s and early 70s. DC, you got any paper on this one? [ Edited by: Mo-Eye 2009-05-22 20:14 ]
T tikiyaki Tiki Socialite The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA Joined: May 18, 2004 Posts: 2725	T tikiyaki Posted posted on Sun, May 24, 2009 2:29 PM Oh man...Tiki Bowling Alley....Bring it on !

Name:Tropic Lanes & The Islander
Type:other
Street:124 3rd Street NE
City:Cedar Rapids
State:IA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:

Had to take a break from Florida to give another state a chance!

Just found this in Cedar Rapids, Iowa - The Tropic Lanes Bowling Alley and The Islander Polynesian Room inside. It looks like The Islander opened in December, 1963, but I found mention of the Tropic Lanes in existence as early as 1959. When you read the local paper there, you can tell that bowling was a big deal there. Local scores got more coverage than major league Baseball! Found this great ad from 12/13/1963 about its opening :down:

Lists "As Hawaiian as Diamond Head itself! See the totem poles - three faced god - fishing god - banjo player!" Banjo player kind of scares me, but I guess that was the closest thing you could find to an ukulele in Iowa at the time. Lists some great features such as basket lights from the Orient, bamboo thatched roofs, sea shell lamps and Polynesian appetizers and cocktails. Here's another 1963 ad :down:

One of the odd things is that there were lots of small text only ads each year saying that "The Islander is Now Open", but they only ran in the winter months. Is there a chance that The Islander was only open during the winter? Don't know how long The Islander lasted, but the Tropic Lanes building was demolished in 1973. There were multiple mentions of the "Danceland Ballroom" which was above the Tropic Lanes and very popular. Wonder if that replaced The Islander at some point in the 60s? Here are a couple pics of the building, dating to the late 60s and early 70s.

DC, you got any paper on this one?

[ Edited by: Mo-Eye 2009-05-22 20:14 ]