Century Bowl (bowling alley/tiki? Merced, California

Cruising through the north end of Merced, California today My wife CeCe spotted this deteriorated but still very cool sign. Part of the front of the bldg. had a stucco/cement faux bamboo facade. Maybe some tie to tiki? It’s on the corner of Childs and Parsons. Gonna post more pix as soon as we get home. Anybody got anything on this place?
Wouldn’t surprise me if DC or Sabu do.
Cheers

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-01-23 00:38 ]

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-01-25 10:23 ]

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-01-25 10:24 ]

Don't know if there's any ties to Tiki, but I like the sign. Is the bowling alley still operational?

Big K,
Gonna post sum mo pix dis Friday or Sat. Sadly, it’s pau!
Later,
David

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-01-24 23:22 ]

Here are some more pix of “Century Bowl” in Merced.
Closer shot showing deteriorated condition of the sign.

more detail

One of the walls in front appeared to be covered with bamboo.
and graffiti so I had to do a little investigating. I hope someone on this site can shed some light on this place.

Detail of faux Bamboo. Notice there are only 3 different widths to the canes. I was trying to understand how this thing was constructed. See comments regarding “nodes” below

Bamboo meets the “regular” stucco.

Looks like the nodes were added after the canes were molded/shaped from stucco and left to partially dry. I wonder how the wall looked before time and taggers did their damage.

Back of bldg.

Right front of bldg. as it is presently-So sad!

The bldg. was boarded up well-I would have loved to snoop around inside and maybe find clues to a tiki past.
So far I found out that the place closed in the mid-nighties. I found a reference to a story in the “Merced Star/Sun” covering the history of the Century Bowl but I hit a dead end when I went to the site-the domain is up for sale and I was unable to access the story.

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-01-25 00:42 ]

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-01-28 14:30 ]

Awwwww! Anybody got photos from its heyday?

Thanks for the photos, that looks indeed like it could have been something…

Darn it!:
"...I found a reference to a story in the “Merced Star/Sun” covering the history of the Century Bowl but I hit a dead end when I went to the site-the domain is up for sale and I was unable to access the story…"