Cherry Hill's lone bowling alley gets retro rebuilding and rebranding

When the Erlton Bowl opened in the Ellisburg Shopping Center in 1961, Delaware Township was soon to be renamed Cherry Hill.

The space-age bowling center on Kings Highway near Route 70 quickly became one of the township's leisure destinations, especially after fitness guru Jim Correa's gymnasium was added on a few years later.

And in the early 1970s, "Uncle Al's Lounge" inside the Erlton Bowl hosted Bruce Springsteen - then so unknown, his last name was spelled in newspaper advertisements as Springstein - in concert.

"I remember a lot of that history, which is a little scary," says owner Jon Perper, 60, who's capitalizing on the past as he rebrands what's now called the Playdrome into "the Big Event."

Construction of the $1.5 million project is expected to be completed this year; the most dramatic changes will be within the portion of the complex once home to the gym.

The 36-lane bowling center and arcade game room will continue operating while renovations are underway.

"We're standing in what was the swimming pool," Perper says, showing me a mosaic-tiled wall nearby that features colorful little images of fish.

Initially limited to men, and featuring amenities such as a sauna, Jacuzzi, and "shaving bar," Correa's gym pioneered the now-familiar fitness center format. It offered not only weightlifting, but swimming and other sports.

Correa's drew professional and amateur athletes from throughout the region, and later was owned by Flyers legend Bobby Clarke. Correa, a colorful figure who sold vitamins, hosted a Philly radio call-in show, and wore shorts year-round, died in 2001; the gym closed in 2008.

Perper says much of what was the swimming pool (now covered in concrete) and adjacent spaces will become "the Erlton Hop House," a restaurant-pub featuring contemporary cuisine and craft beers. A onetime squash court will become a meeting room for corporate gatherings and other events.

Photographs and other memorabilia will be exhibited in the new facility. "The retro look is coming back," Perper says, adding that eight of the 36 bowling lanes also will be refurbished in '60s style.

A Philadelphian who describes himself as born into the business of family entertainment, Perper was only 13 when he began helping his family run the Woodcrest Bowl. His father, Irvin, built the facility on Cherry Hill's east side in 1960.

Mechanical pinsetting and automatic ball return machinery had come into wide use after World War II, and served to free the sport from its somewhat raffish, urban image. And inexpensive suburban land enabled construction of enormous facilities with free parking.

Cherry Hill eventually had at least three bowling centers, as well as other attractions - including the Camden County Music Fair, Latin Casino, and enormous themed restaurants such as the Hawaiian Cottage.

"Cherry Hill became quite the venue," historian Paul Schopp says.

Adds Michael Mathis, coauthor with Lisa Mangiafico, of Cherry Hill - A Brief History (History Press), "the township was drawing a younger demographic, and all the new housing developments were [bringing in a] ready-made clientele" for family entertainment, such as bowling."

Although the sport has in recent years become popular among hip urbanites, Cherry Hill is down to a single bowling center, the Playdrome.

"Now," Perper says, "any form of entertainment is our competition."

However, leagues are still rolling strong at Playdrome, where I chat with members of a seniors team called the "Pinchasers" on a recent Thursday afternoon.

"I started bowling at Broad and Columbia in North Philadelphia, when I was 16," says Ruth Benowitz, 89, of Cherry Hill, who worked at the Erlton Bowl when it opened in 1961.

"I hope the [improvements] will bring a lot of people in," she adds. "To me, bowling is everything."