Tahoe Bowl was South Shore's first indoor recreation center

Do you know where to find Beachwalk Avenue in Bijou, Calif.?

Beachwalk Avenue now is known as Fremont Avenue, and Bijou, Calif., once was what locals called the center of South Lake Tahoe.

At least that was the area's name back in 1959, before the city was incorporated.

So what is so important about Beachwalk Avenue back in 1959? Well, that's when the very first and largest indoor recreation center in South Lake Tahoe opened its doors. This facility was Tahoe Bowl, and at the time, it offered the most up-to-date and luxurious bowling center, bar and restaurant at Lake Tahoe.

The masterminds behind Tahoe Bowl were Joe Catera, his brother Peter Catera, and Mr. and Mrs. Ray Schneeburger. The plans were drawn up and ground was broken in March 1959. Construction was completed that summer, and Tahoe Bowl opened its doors to the public on Aug. 8, 1959.

A grand-opening celebration took place Sept. 12, 1959, with special guest Dick Agee.

"The bowling alley was a big thing," said Ray Catera's daughter, Raylene Catera Jennings. "There wasn't that many things to do for kids."

Jennings, who was 10 when Tahoe Bowl opened, said the bowling alley also gave youths as well as adults a way to earn extra cash. Before scorekeeping became computerized, the bowling alley hired people to keep score on an overhead-projector system.

In that first year, Tahoe Bowl operated under the supervision of manager and owner Joe Catera. The back-end operations, or pinsetting area, were conducted by Peter Catera. The restaurant was run and supervised by the Schneeburgers. Peter Catera and his family lived in an apartment above Tahoe Bowl, where he could keep on eye on everything while the bowling alley operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Operations remained like this into the 1960s, when local businessman Lester Nagy took over the business. Nagy operated the profitable Tahoe Bowl for years. Without fail, patrons could find members of the new city council and local businessmen having breakfast together and discussing the direction of the newly incorporated city of South Lake Tahoe.

In the early 1970s, Nagy handed down Tahoe Bowl to his son, Vic. Vic Nagy continued to operate Tahoe Bowl until he sold it and the surrounding land to Dr. Chan in the late 1970s.

John Shott, who moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1977, remembers his early years at Tahoe Bowl.

"The lanes and ballracks were wooden, and all frames had to be recorded by hand," he said. "The bar had an old jukebox (with) three plays for 25 cents and a small dance floor where everyone would dance 'til the Tahoe Bowl closed at 1 a.m."

About this time, Kingsbury Lanes on Kingsbury Grade opened for business, and Chan built Inn by the Lake and the restaurant building on the corner of Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Fremont Avenue.

After these developments, Tahoe Bowl closed its doors for nearly two years.

A couple of years later, Tahoe Bowl reopened with Vic Nagy as manager. Within a short period of time, he struck up a deal with Chan's corporation and repurchased the business and equipment. Nagy continued to own and operate Tahoe Bowl until 1998, when he sold it back to Chan and his Land Group.

Nagy stayed at Tahoe Bowl as manager until August 2005, when he retired. Following in Nagy's footsteps was Jeremy Agnew, a longtime employee and assistant manager.

Since Agnew took over business operations at Tahoe Bowl, locals and visitors have observed many changes. Among them has been the transformation of the bar into the Lane 17 Sports Bar, complete with new furniture, a pool table, four TVs, Direct TV sports packages and 12 different beers on tap. Blue Dog Gourmet Pizza now leases the restaurant.

The "new" Tahoe Bowl now has overhead automatic scoring, steel ballracks, several seating areas and lighted bumpers for moonlight bowling and to assist young children so they can roll their balls in the gutter and still knock over pins.

Shott also has seen the cost of a game rise from $1.50 to $4.50. Locals can catch a cost break on Sundays, when bowling costs $2 per game.

Upcoming plans call for new synthetic lanes and air conditioning.

Tahoe Bowl will hold a 50th anniversary party in summer 2009.