Family working on renaissance of Elgin Lanes, celebrating new chapter in business

Tyler Fender and Jake Bruce are semi-regulars at Elgin Lanes because of its wood lanes and low-key atmosphere.

“The lanes were always better than other places,” Fender said.

The 62-year-old bowling alley still has the original wood lanes, which have been refurbished.

“It’s just a lot better,” Bruce said.

Unfortunately, the new lanes didn’t help Fender’s game.

Elgin Lanes is having a renaissance under its new ownership.

“We wanted to change the atmosphere at the bowling alley,” Manager Jack Wu said.

His mom, Fanny Kwok-Ng, purchased Elgin Lanes at 401 Shepard Drive in February 2025. The family has been revamping the bowling alley over the last year and is celebrating its new chapter.

Wu has gotten good feedback about the changes.

“It’s a good feeling when you hear how much this place means to everyone and how grateful they are for the improvements,” Wu said.

Elgin Lane’s building was constructed in 1963 and then opened as a bowling alley the following year. It originally had 20 lanes and then expanded by 10 lanes that year.

It’s been family-owned since it opened, Wu said.

His mom called him up one day about an idea she had, Wu said.

“She said, ‘Hey, I’ve been thinking about purchasing either a strip mall or bowling alley. Right out of the bat, I told her to buy a strip mall,” Wu said.

Her son advised her to buy a strip mall and open a restaurant in it. Kwok-Ng has been in the restaurant industry for years and has owned eight restaurants over the years, including the Elgin Buffet on McLean Boulevard.

“A few months later, I got a call. She said, ‘I bought the bowling alley,’” said Wu, who’s never been bowling himself.

Kwok-Ng didn’t know the bowling industry and asked him to move back from Kansas to run Elgin Lanes.

There was a lot to do.

The former owner did his best to maintain the building, including some remodeling, and replaced the roof and HVAC system, but the bowling alley had declined.

“The machines were getting old because of a lot of wear and tear,” Wu said. “He tried to keep it afloat. He was just maintaining it.”

Still, Elgin Lanes remained open for six decades.

Elgin Lanes has regulars along with bowling leagues that helped keep it open, Wu said.

When Wu arrived, his mom had already put a lot of work into the building. Kwok-Ng expanded the arcade, took out some pool tables, and did a lot of promotions to get people through the door.

Wu has been busy making more improvements. A major project was upgrading the bowling pin machinery and refurbishing and sanding the wood lanes.

Originally, Wu wanted to switch the lanes from wood to synthetic. But regulars’ input explained why wood lanes are important.

A wood lane provides more friction for rolling bowling balls than a synthetic lane does, Wu said. The ball tends to curve on a wood lane, he said. Many regular bowlers came to Elgin Lanes specifically for that type of lane to help improve their game, he said.

He also learned Elgin Lanes is one of the largest bowling alleys in the country with wood lanes. Most bowling alleys switched to synthetic lanes years ago, Wu said.

The cost of synthetic lanes would’ve been a lot, so Wu decided to keep the existing lanes and refurbished them, he said.

Once the lanes were done, the U.S. Bowling Congress inspected them. The USBC measures lane levelness, tilt, depressions, and pin deck specs, according to its website.

USBC inspectors recertified the lanes, which received the organization’s gold standard.

“All the bowlers say it’s like night and day compared to last year,” Wu said. “They are very happy with how the lanes came out.”

Elgin Lanes has multigenerational bowlers, people who remember coming there while parents or grandparents played in leagues, Wu said.

“They were very appreciative we kept it an alley because all the other alleys in Elgin shut down,” Wu said. Others have been bought out by big companies that have added arcades or other activities.

Bowling is starting to attract a younger demographic of bowlers, Wu said. It’s one of the fastest-growing high school sports, he said. Elgin Lanes feels retro, which is becoming trendy, Wu said. There are no disco balls or flashing lights or fancy scoreboards, he said.

It does have the basics: food, a remodeled bar, a few pool tables, a private banquet room, and a lounge area as part of the improvements. Wu’s family upgraded the kitchen and revamped the food menu to include more options.

The bar area got a face-lift with new counters, flooring, a paint job, tables and chairs, Wu said. It’s a full bar, too, he said.

Elgin Lanes remodeled its arcade area with more games and added 10 pinball machines. It also holds monthly tournaments that draw people from all over, he said.

“We have a guy who is ranked the best around the world,” Wu said. “He has the highest score on all of our machines.”

Wu has more plans for the bowling alley. He just got the city of Elgin’s permission to add a new entrance directly into the bar. And he’s adding an outdoor patio with seating

Next year, he wants to add more interactive things to the event room and a stage to bring in live music.

For now, Elgin Lanes is celebrating its new chapter with a ribbon-cutting from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28, with free bowling, free food, free soft drinks, and raffles and prizes. To RSVP, contact Marilyn C. at (224) 363-4210.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for the Elgin Courier-News.