The weather threw a couple of strikes at a North Versailles bowling alley, but emergency cooperation among local businesses in the borough is keeping everybody rolling. The North Versailles Bowling Center, which for 40 years has signalled the entrance into North Versailles for eastbound travellers on Route 30 with the large "North Versailles Bowl" sign painted on the back of the building, was hit hard by two storms in the past few weeks, sustaining major damage to its massive convex roof. But help from a local disaster restoration company and a competing bowling alley is allowing local bowling leagues to keep playing, and should allow the popular bowling alley to reopen by the end of August. The Great Valley Lanes, just across Route 30 from the North Versailles Bowling Center, is giving bowling league members from its neighbor the same discount they got from the damaged bowling alley, and is even turning the money it collects from the leagues over to its competitor. "We had offered 'if there was anything we can do to help' … and when I told the owner, he told us to do that," said Colleen Williams, a co-manager at Great Valley Lanes. She said the decision to help the neighboring bowling alley came from Tony DelPrete, one of the three co-owners of Great Valley. Debbie Pompilio, manager of the North Versailles Bowling Center, said her business also has received tremendous care from DRS — Disaster Restoration Services — a company with a home office in North Versailles. "They work constantly here and they're trying to keep everything under cover," said Pompilio. "I am very impressed with this company." Paul Blazevich, an executive manager with DRS, said his company had begun work on a 25-foot by 100-foot section of the roof that was blown off in a storm on May 14. Then a larger section of the roof was blown off in the May 31 storm that caused the death of a Monroeville woman at Kennywood Park, and extensive property damage in West Mifflin and other sections of western Pennsylvania. Blazevich said the damage to the bowling alley roof is estimated to be in the $500,000 range. He said the roof should be back on the bowling alley in a couple of weeks. He said one of the key concerns his company has is to keep the bowling alley's pin-resetting machinery and moisture-sensitive lanes protected. Pompilio said she thinks the damage to the interior of the bowling alley will be minimal. "I'm optimistic that we're not going to have any damage, due to their help and their dedication," Pompilio said. People that depend on the bowling alley for entertainment and friendship aren't missing any of that due to that same cooperation and dedication. North Versailles resident Ed Pelc, who heads up the Oldtimers Bowling League that uses the North Versailles Bowling Center on Tuesdays, said Friday that as a result of the generosity of the neighboring business, he and his bowling buddies aren't missing out on any of the friendship and camaraderie they look forward to on Tuesdays. He said he is pleasantly surprised at the kindness the folks at Great Valley are extending to their neighbors across the street. "You don't see that in business these days," Pelc said. Pompilio said the bowling alley is opening up its bar, the Club 475 — The Last Frame, on Friday with a show by Eighth Street Rocks, and will have a grand reopening of the bar on June 29 with a comedy show and a Top 40 disc jockey. The North Versailles Bowling Center was called North Versailles Bowl for decades but changed its name when it was purchased by native son Chris Oliver a year ago. Pompilio said Oliver now lives in California, but plans to move back to the township.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---