After 34 years of business, Midway Pro Bowl is closing to make way for St. Paul’s new $200 million professional soccer stadium.

A date hasn’t been set yet for the alley at University and Snelling Avenues, but the league that bowls there, which was gearing up to start in two weeks, will not be able to compete this year.

“My kids grew up bowling here. We’ve had groups that have been here for over 25 years. We know our customers by name,” co-owner Alan Loth said. “We’re devastated. You put your heart and soul into a business for 34 years and a soccer team just takes it away from you. It doesn’t seem right to me.”

Loth and co-owner Scott Koecheler have been with Midway Pro Bowl since it opened in 1983. Prior to that, the bowling alley was under different management and a different name. Loth said they knew this might happen eventually, but they were hoping for at least one more year.

“We have been asked on a daily basis, for the past year, what the status is with the new soccer stadium. Well, we now have the answer,” an announcement on the bowling alley’s website said. “Bill McGuire (owner of the Minnesota United Soccer team) and RK Midway (current owner/landlord of the Midway Shopping Center) have terminated our lease which means they are putting us out of business.”

The lease was supposed to end in 2025, but a clause allowed the landlord to terminate it early.

Loth said it’s not only the unexpected shut down that’s frustrating. It’s the lack of compensation as well.

“When property is taken over, they pay you for it. Then they can do whatever they want. Why is this any different?” Loth said. “If someone’s going to come in and demolish it and my lease goes until 2025 … to be fair then, shouldn’t they pay me something for all my contributions to their property for over 30 years?”

He said he’s most likely not interested in starting over with a new bowling alley, but Koecheler said if the right opportunity came, they might jump.

“We still have some life left in us, and we’d love to stay in the business if it’s at all possible,” Koecheler said.

Though Midway Pro Bowl is just a small, neighborhood business, Loth said it still benefits the area financially.

“We pay $80,000 roughly in sales tax every year, a quarter of a million in payroll every year. … We do over a million dollars in business every year,” Loth said. “We have a good reputation, and to have been here as long as we have, we must have done something right.” Related Articles St. Paul PD highlights surveillance photos of looting suspects, seeks tips

As memories of George Floyd fade, activists make sure his legacy does not

Minneapolis and St. Paul to add 70 electric car charging stations with $6.7M grant

Neighborhood girl finds and returns chef Justin Sutherland’s stolen knife roll

Therapy dog-in training stolen in St. Paul found, reunited with owners

Midway Pro Bowl also hosted a special needs program on Saturdays, worked on a program with handicapped children and supported Cretin-Derham Hall for several years, Loth said. Now, “they’re all gone.”

The bulky machinery will make it “physically impossible for us to empty this building in 90 days,” according to Loth. They’ll stay open as long as they can, and they plan to host a party the day before they close.

After being told the news Thursday, Loth and Koecheler are still coming to terms with it.

“It is just a sad thing when you take and invest the time and energy and money, along with the friendships you’ve made over the course of time … and then that outside entity comes and just rips it all away,” Koecheler said. “It’s very difficult, we just have to try and keep things in perspective and put a positive spin on it, if that’s at all possible.”