Operator of New Orleans-based Mid-City Lanes files permit to build bowling alley

The operator of Mid-City Lanes has filed a building permit to convert a property he owns into a bowling alley. The 67-year-old Rock 'n' Bowl tradition at the corner of Carrollton and Tulane avenues will continue, but for how long is uncertain.

John Blancher's permit calls for the old Helm Paint building at 8126 Earhart Blvd. to be converted into a bowling alley. It lists the project value at $500,000 and Work Construction Co. of Mandeville as the contractor.

Blancher said he has a year and a half remaining on his lease at Mid-City Lanes and a five-year option but declined to discuss his plans for the Earhart property or the future of Mid-City Lanes.

Clark Heebe, a principal in 4 Pins Standing LLC, owners of the shopping center that includes Mid-City Lanes, said he was aware Blancher was building an entertainment venue at the old Helm site but did not know a bowling alley was in the works.

"He hasn't given any indication that he's leaving," Heebe said. "He still has time left on his lease and an extension option. We're really happy with him as a tenant."

Heebe's group put the shopping center through a $5 million renovation after Hurricane Katrina and leased the old Thrift City site to Nike, which opened an outlet store in April. All but one of the center's storefronts are occupied, Heebe said.

The landlords were considering a 9,000-square-foot Chinese buffet restaurant for the center following the renovation, but Heebe said they did not want to create a parking problem for Mid-City Lanes customers at night.

Blancher has experience with successfully moving a Mid-City institution to a new location. In 2003, his family bought Ye Olde College Inn. After levee breaches following Katrina destroyed the restaurant, he moved it next door into a building he was retrofitting for a restaurant before the storm and reopened it in February 2006. The old building was razed to make room for a parking lot.

The former Helm building sits just on the other side of that parking lot.

Credit: Greg LaRose