Merced Mysteries & Minutiae: Former Merced bowling alley and eyesore has changes in store

Through years of vacancy and neglect, the former Century Bowl location near Golden Valley High School became an eyesore in the city of Merced.

Graffiti, weeds, trash, old mattresses and couches overtook the once-busy bowling alley and nightclub called Mulligan’s Rock ’n Roll Sports Bar on the corner of Childs and Parsons avenues. Mulligan’s closed in 1999. Transients inhabited the building from time to time and were believed to have caused a fire that ripped through the building in 2007.

The building opened as Century 21 Restaurant in 1964, with the bowling alley added in 1986.

For decades, the building was filled with people dining, pins crashing, dancing and loud music, quite the opposite of what it’s been these last 15 years – a desolate lot where people dumped their junk, tagged the walls and occasionally sneaked inside to do who knows what.

Some residents spoke out about the building on Facebook, and many contacted city leaders, pleading for them to take action.

Arnie Carvajal addressed city leaders at the Feb. 18 town hall meeting, urging them to take control of the situation.

“The blight is horrible,” he said. “Painting it, cleaning it up, getting rid of the rats – it’s not going to be enough. We need to level it.”

Q: What is the city doing about landlords who allow vacant properties to become an eyesore?

A: The old Century Bowl may be a specialized case.

Code enforcement would be a reasonable fix.

Jackie Hicks, a code enforcement and animal control officer fairly new to the position, was familiar with the site. She said the building and lot had a long history of code violations.

But Hicks said once the owner of the property was contacted through a property management company, the situation was taken care of rather quickly.

In fact, the day after the town hall meeting, crews were out on the property, working to cover graffiti and remove the debris, Hicks said.

“The property owner responded immediately,” she said.

In instances when the property owner wasn’t compliant, the process to get a place cleaned up becomes long and arduous. Property owners receive a warning and are given time to correct violations before being cited, when yet another process begins.

The Century Bowl property still has some overgrown weeds, and vandals have again left their mark.

“Is it a perfect cleanup? No, but at least they’re working toward getting there,” said Frank Quintero, the city’s director of community and economic development.

But there’s more good news for the site.

An application has been pulled to demolish the building and replace it with a gas station and drive-thru restaurant. The application still has to go through some processes by city staff, but Quintero said he’s hopeful it will be completed very shortly.

“From my perspective, we’re seeing more develop,” Quintero said. “That’s a good sign, not only for the site being cleaned up but also for the site as a whole.”

Going back to code enforcement, there’s more good news there, too.

The city recently hired additional code enforcement and animal control officers. Just last year, the entire job was left to one person.

Hicks replaced Roberta Medina, who retired, and is getting up to speed on what the position entails. She’ll be joined shortly by some extra help, which hopefully will mean less blight and fewer eyesores for the city.

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Merced Mysteries & Minutiae: Former Merced bowling alley and eyesore has changes in store."