At the city council meeting on June 17, DX2 Investments LLC, made up of a few local families, gave a presentation regarding their acquisition and redevelopment of the former Lake Lanes building.
The plan is to turn the building into an entertainment venue with bowling lanes, an arcade room, golf simulator and bar/restaurant area.
The Lake Lanes building on Buddy Holly Pl. has been empty for a while now, creating the perfect shell for a new business to make a home in.
Julia Oulman, who’s father built the original Lake Lanes building, said, “He [my father] built it for family entertainment. I have, to this day, many people come up to me and say ‘oh we’re so sorry that’s not around. We had so much fun.’ So, I’m very grateful that you [DX2] are making an effort to bring it back to life.”
The goal for DX2 has been to find a unique family entertainment venue that they can bring to Clear Lake. What that has looked like has changed over time to become what they presented to the council.
The venue, currently unnamed, would also be the only bowling venue in a half an hour radius, the closest ones being Super Bowl Inc. in Forest City and Side Track Lanes in Britt.
Working with Joshua Brueggeman from Accord Architecture out of Mason City, they were able to create a digital model of the venue, showing what they hope it will look like when they finish the remodel.
“The intent would be to have six lanes of bowling, arcade and golf simulators and restaurant/bar,” Brueggeman said. “It will be a nice little entertainment venue to go along with everything else happening in the surf district.”
The full presentation can be seen on the city council meeting video from June 17, but Brueggeman, gave the council a look at the existing building, the floor plan for the future venue and the digital model showing a more detailed plan, including the inside.
The goal for the completion of the project would be to open to the public this fall but could be closer to winter depending on how the project plays out.
Council members were optimistic about the project, feeling hopeful about its success and the plan presented to them.
City Administrator Scott Flory has been in talks with Tyler Kerr and Nick Plagge of DX2 and Brueggeman for a while now and is excited to see the project beginning to take shape.
“I think we’re going to start to see, with a lot of the reinvestment activities going on in the surf district, this sort of renewed interest in private projects like this,” Flory said, introducing the presentation during the meeting. “We’ll be looking forward to a letter of intent outlining some incentives for the project, but very excited. I think the community will appreciate it.”
