Our guest contributor this week is Pat Barch, the Hoffman Estates Historian. This column originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of the Hoffman Estates Citizen, the village’s newsletter. The column appears here, courtesy of the Village of Hoffman Estates.
Four years ago we sadly learned of the closing of the Hoffman Lanes Bowling Alley. It was built by F & S Construction, the developer who was building Hoffman Estates, to fill a need for entertainment in the new community.
Hoffman Lanes has some history that many may not know of. I didn’t know about the interesting happenings at the bowling alley until I received a newspaper article from a friend who loves to investigate the past.
In just a year after Hoffman Lanes opened in 1961, a series of 22 “Top Star Bowling” network television programs were taped during an eight day recording session, beginning August 28. They were scheduled to be aired for Saturday night broadcasting throughout the country, starting that fall. The previous year’s TV programs were called “Championship Bowling.”
Many of the “big name bowling champions, such as Don Carter, Carmen Salvino, Harry Smith, Ed Loubanski, Dick Hoover, Tom Hennessey, Ray Bluth and many others will be in Hoffman Estates for the filming” the Hoffman Herald’s August, 16, 1962 newspaper reported.
Hall of Fame bowler Joe Norris (shown above) represented the program sponsor, the Brunswick Corporation bowling division. Lanes 29 and 30 were chosen to be the lanes that would be used in the filming. They were kept in peak condition and used only for the competition. Local residents could receive complimentary tickets for the event until they were gone.
Another very special bowling tournament that came along years later was the Petersen Classic.
It was known as bowling’s grand event. It began in Chicago in 1921 at the Archer & 35th Recreation building. The top bowler would receive $1,000 compared to golf’s US Open that paid $500 for its first place prize. Quite a bit of money in those days and entry fees were $28, a week’s wages back then.
Over the years it grew to include tournaments in other major cities.
It survived the Great Depression and in 1981 the tournament still drew more than 36,000 bowlers but finally, in 1993, the Petersen Classic died. After 90 years in Chicago at Archer & 35th it finally died of old age.
It wasn’t long before private investors purchased the tournament and it moved to Hoffman Lanes in Hoffman Estates where it debuted in its new home at Higgins and Roselle Roads. Hoffman Lanes proudly displayed “Home of the Petersen Classic” on its outdoor marquee (as seen on the sign above.)
I never knew what this was until I did research for my article. They held the famous bowling tournament there for 20 years, from 1994 till 2014 when the tournament was moved to AMF Bolingbrook for just one year. It moved to Brunswick Zone in River Grove, IL in 2015 and is still drawing bowlers to its classic tournament.
Hoffman Lanes sits empty and quiet. It had a wonderful run from 1961 until it’s closing in 2015. As I learned, it was a wonderful bowling alley, not just for our families but for the top bowlers in the U.S. and the historic Petersen Classic.
Pat Barch, Hoffman Estates Village Historian
eagle2064@comcast.net
Credit for the photo of Joe Norris is given to Dr. Jake’s Bowling History Blog.
History of Schaumburg Township 
Carmen Salvino was the Uncle of my first High School girlfriend, a local PBA Bowler
My dad bowled on a mens league there in the early 60’s for many years. This is some good history.