About Day's Bowl-a-Dome

Day’s Bowl-A-Dome is a bowling center with a full service pro-shop providing bowling equipment, technical advice and lessons. We offer league bowling, cosmic bowling, and open or casual bowling. We also continue to be a popular place for special events and parties.

The Fast Lane Café, our full-service restaurant and bar, has a menu that offers a wide array of entrees ranging from appetizers and pizza to Friday Night Fish Fry, salads, wraps and specialty sandwiches. We also deliver lunches to businesses for office meetings. Our bar and lounge area also enable us to provide accommodations for company, birthday, class reunion and wedding parties.

With our rich history, updated facilities, and community ties, Day's Bowl-a-Dome stands out as the premier bowling and entertainment center in the area. Day's Bowl-a-Dome was founded in 1948 under the name of Stettin Bowl-A-Dome. Russell and Hobart Day purchased the business in 1952, and we've been family owned and operated ever since.

Company Story

History: In 1946 property at 1715 W. Stewart Avenue was purchased by Hobart Day and Russell Day with the financial support of Alfie Beherndt. (This property was originally located in the Town of Stettin but was annexed by the City of Wausau in the 1980’s.) The only other businesses in the vicinity at the time were Horak’s Automotive/George’s Restaurant located across the street from the bowling center and Zell’s Tavern which was located where Hollywood Video is today. State Highway 29 ran east/west directly in front of the building. Shortly after the center was finished, 29 Super Market was built next door to the east.

Early in the construction of the center, Hobart and Russell encountered a tremendous set back. Hobart moved $40,000 (1946 value) worth of building materials, mainly lumber, to a warehouse at a different location. Unfortunately, he didn’t insure the materials and shortly thereafter a fire broke out at the location destroying the building and the lumber.

During the construction and initial start up of the business, Hobart and Russell Day, received financial support from Alfie Beherndt. They operated the business under the name, Stettin Bowl-A-Dome. Eventually the Day’s decided to make a go of it on their own and purchased Alfie’s interest in the business, incorporated it in July of 1948, and changed the name to Day’s Bowl-A-Dome.

Why A Dome: Initial plans were to have a Dance/Banquet Hall in the dome area of the bowling center – above the seating and concourse area. For support, steel girders would be needed to create the suspended ceiling/floor of the hall in that location. Unfortunately, the center was built shortly after World War II and steel was in high demand making the purchase of girders impossible.

Current Day Operations: Dean Day, Hobart's grandson, Russell's son, became the general manager in 1987 and the company president and majority stock holder in 1999. He continues to hold these positions to this day has been employed full-time at Day's Bowl-A-Dome, Inc. since 1977.

Day's Bowl-A-Dome, Inc. is comprised of a bowling center, a full-service pro shop, restaurant (Fast Lane Café) and bar. In our bar and the Fast Lane Café, we offer a full lunch and dinner menu including appetizers, pizzas, Friday Fish Fry, salads, wraps and specialty sandwiches; lunch catering to local businesses; and bar parties for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, retirement parties, class reunions, etc.

In our bowling center we offer youth birthday parties; corporate bowling parties and events; daytime and evening bowling leagues for seniors, couples, men's, women's and junior bowlers; and Rock-N-Bowl on Saturday nights.

Our full service pro-shop provides bowling equipment (i.e. balls, bags and shoes), accessories and technical services such as fitting, drilling and adjustment of bowling balls. We have a clientele base that encompasses all of Wisconsin. In the late 80's through 1993, Dean Day rented space in bowling centers located in Medford, Minocqua and Park Falls allowing him to literally bring the pro shop to our customers in those and outlying areas. In doing so, he built a large clientele base that exists yet today. Our pro-shop also offers lessons for experienced and novice bowlers of all ages.

Community Involvement

Day’s Bowl-A-Dome created and continues to maintain the largest youth bowling program in the Central Wisconsin Area. Our youth bowlers compete in local and state tournaments. Since its creation in 1999, Day’s Bowl-A-Dome has had teams in the District Nine High School Bowling Program. Our high school bowlers have proudly represented Wausau West High School, Wausau East High School, Newman High School and D.C. Everest High School in state tournaments every year. Our Wausau West High School girls’ team took 3rd place in the 2005-2006 Wisconsin High School Bowling Tournament during a live, televised event in Green Bay. The District Nine High School Bowling Program has paid out over $75,000 in scholarship money in the past eight years to local high school bowlers.

In 2006, Dean Day helped to acquire funding to purchase over $15,000 worth of equipment for the elementary level In School Bowling Program. This program teaches elementary school children the life-long sport of bowling with specialized, scaled-down equipment. The program is now available to all Wausau Area Elementary Schools and has been extended to the D.C. Everest, Rothschild and Mosinee School Districts. In 2006 Dean was recognized and honored by the Bowling Center Association of Wisconsin for his efforts in bringing this program to the districts.

Day’s Bowl-A-Dome supports the following organizations: Special Olympics, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, The Performing Arts Foundation, Children’s Service Society and many others. We also sponsor and help to organize fundraisers for many local churches, schools, and other organizations in the area.

Renovations:

For every phase of our renovation projects, we have made every effort to use local contractors and retailers. We take extreme measures to do business with local businesses at every turn, even if it means paying extra for goods and services. Day's Bowl-A-Dome is as committed to being a member of our Wausau Area Community as we are to giving the area the best bowling, dining and event experience. Continually investing in Day's Bowl-A-Dome allows us to achieve that goal.

Day's Bowl-a-Dome is as committed to being a member of our Wausau-area community as we are to giving you the best bowling, dining, and event experience.

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