23rd July, Jakarta: When the center was partially destroyed by a massive flood last year, Jaya Ancol Bowling Center has now a new lease of life after re-construction over the past six months was undertaken.

The whole Jaya Ancol was overwhelmed by flood waters so strong that water began to sip in through the toilets, kitchen and from the back of the center. The flow of the flood waters broke the glass in the front and that was when there was no stopping of the water flowing into the center.

Luckily through the quick thinking of the management and staffs of Ancol Bowl that prompted the mad rush to salvage important electronic machines such as the AMF back-office and front counter computers.

They were moved to the 20 lanes on the left-side of the center which is on higher grounds. The ball return electronics including the foul-line units and pins camera were destroyed when they were submerged in 4-feet of water in the entire 40 lanes on ground level.

The mains swithed off helped to save the pin setters from being destroyed and they were salvaged. They had to be, however dismantled, cleaned and re-assembled back into working order.

The 40 synthetic lanes and the foundation were completely soaked beyond salvage and had to be replaced. The ball return mechanism had to be dismantled as well and electronic parts replaced.

But the most important addition to the re-construction was the raising of the overall height of the ground by 7 inches with a concrete foundation before the lanes were installed. This has eliminated the previous slight slant towards the pin decks.

The new Ancol Bowl is now equipped by new AMF synthetic lanes including new pin decks. The gutters were salvageable and repainted. New synthetic approach are also new. The electronic console on the lanes also had to be replaced.

At a cost of US$600,000 on the new lanes and parts plus another US$200,000 on renovation over the past six months has turned Ancol Bowl into an indeed refreshed state-of-the-art center ready for many regular leagues and competitions for years to come.

The new masking units, decors and the newly renovated restaurant have made Ancol Bowl a desirable center for the whole family. It is now fully operational and opened for business.

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Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.