What would be the best way to provide entertainment for young people in Hermann?
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Thu, 02/11/2010 - 3:53pm — Alex Luft
Does Hermann need to expand its offering of activities for young people? Is there room for a youth-oriented business? A community-funded center? Does Hermann need to bring back its bowling alley?
As a mother of four children. I think an all around entertainment area would be awesome in Hermann. Whether it be all in one building or strip mall type businesses. My husband and I love to do stuff like this with our children but hate driving to Washington to either go bowling or to the movie theater. In fact, if there were a bowling alley here in town, I would probably join a league. I am pretty terrible at bowling but several years ago I was in a league in Washington and we had so much fun!!
I am sure it would take several years for the business owner to turn a profit but isn't there someone out there who is financially secure and wouldn't be totally relying on the income of the business to live on? This not only would be a great place to employ teenagers, it would give them a safe alternative to driving around or drinking out on back roads. Not to mention the boost it would get when visitors come from out of town.
If someone were to open a bowling alley in Hermann, I think they should include at least 3 billiard tables, a separate bar for adults over 21, a food bar, an arcade area, and maybe an area with several groupings of tables with music and or TV available so people can just hang out and eat.
I know there's a lot of "Money" in the area.... No one has an idea, proposal or funds raising Idea on how to get a project like this off the ground?? Come on now, SOMEBODY has to have an Idea!!!
How about an entertainment center that could include both bowling and roller skating ? A roller rink would require less capital outlay than the bowling alley section and would allow m ore entertainment options to users. Maybe a video game room also. Certainly a snack bar with "fast food" would serve all venues.
Before we "old people" decide for the teens, how about someone taking a poll of the HHS students for their opinions -- a good job for Chelsea B.
Bowling is a pasttime that is popular in all age groups. My teenager son loves bowling. My parents do, too. Bowling, like washers, lends itself to teams and leagues, which make for a stronger community. Also, it would seem that Hermann is far enough away from the other bowling centers in the region to be a likely success.
I would like to vote for the bowling alley. The only thing to do within a 20 or so mile radius is EAT. I am a very bad bowler. When I bowl with my aunt in Washington, I am very happy to get 75 and less than 4 gutter balls. On the other hand, you don't need ANY equipment and the amount of activity is the same, regardless of how well you bowl. (Ok, the strikes cut down the activity.)
Bye the way, my aunt often does twice as well as I do and yet we can enjoy it together since our recreational scores do not affect each other.
Several years back we had considered this same type of business. We thought it would be great to have a place that served teen food (fries, nachos, hot dogs, etc), table tops as game boards (scrabble, sorry, trivial pursuit, etc) with arcade games in another room. But with rent, insurance and utilities, it just didn't make any financial sense.
I wholeheartedly agree there should be some good clean place for the kids to go, bowling alley, skating rink, arcade, etc. It won't keep some kids from misbehaving, but it would keep some of our dollars in our town and add some much needed jobs.
I think that Hermann should get a bowling alley. I know that when I was a kid, we went to the bolwing alley all of the time before it burnt down. Now if I want to do anything fun with my friends, we have to go to Jeff City or Washington. There are a lot of people that go to Washington or Union to go bowling and some of them are even in a weekly bowling league. With all of the empty buildings in Hermann, there are more than enough spaces that would be able to support a bowling alley. All I know is that we need somewhere for kids, young adults, and parents to be able to go and have fun and not have to drive 30 minutes to get there.
One of the problems with businesses that cater to a younger crowd is that younger people tend to have less extra income to spend. Even though there's plenty of open spaces in Hermann, I'd imagine that starting a bowling alley is a pretty hefty capital investment. In most cases, you've got to pay for all of the bowling equipment, shoes, lanes and that sort of thing. It would take a very patient owner to keep low rates and recoup that sort of investment over the long haul, I'd think.
At the same time, I would love to challenge you to a bowling match one of these days. So I agree, a bowling alley would be cool.
Okay Mr. Luft, I will accept your challenge to a game at the bowling alley. And for a response to "starting a bowling alley is a hefty investment," that is why it should be for all age groups and have things for everyone to do. It could have an arcade for younger kids, a bar and food stand for everyone, bowling of course for everyone of all ages, cosmic bowling for teens and adults for the late night activities tvs for the sports fanatics. With all of these things, you will not only have teens coming in and bringing their money, but you will have their parents coming to have fun also.
My bowling average is well over 60, I'll have you know. You might have picked the wrong roller to tussle with.
But seriously, I like your idea. I think that the RagTag Theatre in Columbia presents an interesting business model. It's got a theater, a bar, a bakery and a movie store all under one roof. That means there's customers coming in during the morning for muffins, movies at night and a beer at ... noon?
I think something like that could work in Hermann, a sort of multi-use facility that provides a number of entertainment services. But still, who can pay for that sort of thing?
Well how about the City of Hermann kicking in a Tax abatement deal or something similar?? Let someone open up such a place, and they get a "tax break" phased out over a fixed period of years, giving the "investor" more profit "up front" to get things going??? There has to be some sort of "creative" way to get someone to try such a business!!
Entertainment Center...
As a mother of four children. I think an all around entertainment area would be awesome in Hermann. Whether it be all in one building or strip mall type businesses. My husband and I love to do stuff like this with our children but hate driving to Washington to either go bowling or to the movie theater. In fact, if there were a bowling alley here in town, I would probably join a league. I am pretty terrible at bowling but several years ago I was in a league in Washington and we had so much fun!!
I am sure it would take several years for the business owner to turn a profit but isn't there someone out there who is financially secure and wouldn't be totally relying on the income of the business to live on? This not only would be a great place to employ teenagers, it would give them a safe alternative to driving around or drinking out on back roads. Not to mention the boost it would get when visitors come from out of town.
If someone were to open a bowling alley in Hermann, I think they should include at least 3 billiard tables, a separate bar for adults over 21, a food bar, an arcade area, and maybe an area with several groupings of tables with music and or TV available so people can just hang out and eat.
Hey!
I know there's a lot of "Money" in the area.... No one has an idea, proposal or funds raising Idea on how to get a project like this off the ground?? Come on now, SOMEBODY has to have an Idea!!!
Entertainment
I would like to see a bowling alley also. My kids go to Union alot to do cosmic bowling and they love it..
Entertainment for Teens (and others)
How about an entertainment center that could include both bowling and roller skating ? A roller rink would require less capital outlay than the bowling alley section and would allow m ore entertainment options to users. Maybe a video game room also. Certainly a snack bar with "fast food" would serve all venues.
Before we "old people" decide for the teens, how about someone taking a poll of the HHS students for their opinions -- a good job for Chelsea B.
Bowling fun for ALL ages...
Bowling is a pasttime that is popular in all age groups. My teenager son loves bowling. My parents do, too. Bowling, like washers, lends itself to teams and leagues, which make for a stronger community. Also, it would seem that Hermann is far enough away from the other bowling centers in the region to be a likely success.
bowling alley
I would like to vote for the bowling alley. The only thing to do within a 20 or so mile radius is EAT. I am a very bad bowler. When I bowl with my aunt in Washington, I am very happy to get 75 and less than 4 gutter balls. On the other hand, you don't need ANY equipment and the amount of activity is the same, regardless of how well you bowl. (Ok, the strikes cut down the activity.)
Bye the way, my aunt often does twice as well as I do and yet we can enjoy it together since our recreational scores do not affect each other.
Entertainment
Several years back we had considered this same type of business. We thought it would be great to have a place that served teen food (fries, nachos, hot dogs, etc), table tops as game boards (scrabble, sorry, trivial pursuit, etc) with arcade games in another room. But with rent, insurance and utilities, it just didn't make any financial sense.
I wholeheartedly agree there should be some good clean place for the kids to go, bowling alley, skating rink, arcade, etc. It won't keep some kids from misbehaving, but it would keep some of our dollars in our town and add some much needed jobs.
New Bowling Alley
I think that Hermann should get a bowling alley. I know that when I was a kid, we went to the bolwing alley all of the time before it burnt down. Now if I want to do anything fun with my friends, we have to go to Jeff City or Washington. There are a lot of people that go to Washington or Union to go bowling and some of them are even in a weekly bowling league. With all of the empty buildings in Hermann, there are more than enough spaces that would be able to support a bowling alley. All I know is that we need somewhere for kids, young adults, and parents to be able to go and have fun and not have to drive 30 minutes to get there.
Viable businesses can be tough to come by
One of the problems with businesses that cater to a younger crowd is that younger people tend to have less extra income to spend. Even though there's plenty of open spaces in Hermann, I'd imagine that starting a bowling alley is a pretty hefty capital investment. In most cases, you've got to pay for all of the bowling equipment, shoes, lanes and that sort of thing. It would take a very patient owner to keep low rates and recoup that sort of investment over the long haul, I'd think.
At the same time, I would love to challenge you to a bowling match one of these days. So I agree, a bowling alley would be cool.
Its On!!
Okay Mr. Luft, I will accept your challenge to a game at the bowling alley. And for a response to "starting a bowling alley is a hefty investment," that is why it should be for all age groups and have things for everyone to do. It could have an arcade for younger kids, a bar and food stand for everyone, bowling of course for everyone of all ages, cosmic bowling for teens and adults for the late night activities tvs for the sports fanatics. With all of these things, you will not only have teens coming in and bringing their money, but you will have their parents coming to have fun also.
Bah-ring it!
My bowling average is well over 60, I'll have you know. You might have picked the wrong roller to tussle with.
But seriously, I like your idea. I think that the RagTag Theatre in Columbia presents an interesting business model. It's got a theater, a bar, a bakery and a movie store all under one roof. That means there's customers coming in during the morning for muffins, movies at night and a beer at ... noon?
I think something like that could work in Hermann, a sort of multi-use facility that provides a number of entertainment services. But still, who can pay for that sort of thing?
Well how about the City of
Well how about the City of Hermann kicking in a Tax abatement deal or something similar?? Let someone open up such a place, and they get a "tax break" phased out over a fixed period of years, giving the "investor" more profit "up front" to get things going??? There has to be some sort of "creative" way to get someone to try such a business!!