Strike!
Baton Rouge is about to become a city of bowlers. Nearly 90,000 bowlers and guests from around the world are expected to pour into the city for the 2012 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, which kick off Feb. 11.
East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden held a press conference Wednesday in the newly transformed River Center to drum up excitement for the tournament, which last made a stop in the city in 2005.
The River Center had to be remodeled into a state-of-the-art, 48-lane bowling alley to accommodate the 60,000 bowlers that will swarm the city throughout the five-month tournament that runs until July 9.
The tournament is expected to pump somewhere between $85 million and $95 million into Baton Rouge.
Visitors will feed the city’s economy through stays in local hotels, cash spent in stores and dining in restaurants.
Brian Lewis, USBC managing director of tournaments, said individual bowlers will stay in the city for an average of three and a half nights but will only spend eight to 10 hours in the actual bowling facilities. He said the rest of the time will be spent around Baton Rouge, potentially generating revenue.
“We can always count on the city to be very welcoming and deliver that great Southern hospitality to our bowlers,” Lewis said.
Cathy Berry, the lieutenant governor’s chief of staff, said the city has more to offer beyond the bowling experience. She mentioned swamp tours and seafood as distinctive aspects of Southern life that visiting bowlers and their guests can enjoy.
Lewis said the tournament is currently about 25 teams short of the 12,000-team mark, but the tournament is still accepting entries. That number is only slightly below the 2005 number.
Duane Hagen, Open Championships tournament manager, said the tournament is involved with the local community.
Local artwork is scattered throughout the facility, and decorated bowling pins will be distributed to businesses throughout the city for drawings that participants can enter, according to Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo. Holden said the lumber used to transform the 49,000-square-foot space where the tournament will take place was all provided by local suppliers.
“Over the months that [the tournament is] here, this town will be transformed,” Holden said. “And we are standing where a lot of cities and a lot of states would like to be standing.”
 
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Contact Kevin Thibodeaux at [email protected]