Opened in February of 1961, Seahorse Bowl was situated just north of 35th and Seawall Boulevard, behind and adjacent to its namesake, the Seahorse Motor Inn. The motel was a showpiece of the Seawall for decades that featured curved panoramic glass walls and the height of affordable luxury for the time. Torn down in 2005, it was located on the currently undeveloped lot along Seawall between 33rd and 35th Streets.
Seahorse Bowl was formally introduced to the public on its grand opening weekend, February 18 & 19, 1961, with a celebration that included free coffee and refreshments all weekend and a special exhibition game between May Louis Young from Houston who was considered the best female bowlers in Texas and one of the top ten female bowlers in the country, and Pat Sacks, a representative of the Galveston Women’s Bowling League (GWBL) who had recently finished 16th in the World’s Invitational Tournament.
The colorful interior sparkled with fresh turquoise and gray paint, and the facility boasted twenty-four lanes officially equipped by American Machine and Foundry or AMF, still today an ubiquitous name in bowling and at one time the nation’s largest and most diverse recreational equipment companies. Automatic pinsetters and the latest in ball-return technology were linked with a top-of-the-line AMF telescorer, an early electronic scorekeeper.
Other amenities included a large, carpeted nursery that was staffed both in the daytime and in the evening and offered for free to patrons, as well as a restaurant with table, booth, and counter seating, and a wide variety of bowling balls and rental shoes.
Seahorse Bowl was also a proud purveyor of Strike-A-Shape, a figure analysis and control program that assessed a bowler’s technique in order to help them make improvements to their form for improved bowling skills.
Seahorse Bowl endured as a popular favorite for more than two decades until Hurricane Alicia in August 1983 left the building severely damaged. The owners decided to sell instead of taking on the task of repairing, and in July of 1984 Jack Feese of Houston, owner of an alley in Alvin, and Berry Risinger, also of Houston and owner of a Bryan bowling alley, announced their purchase of the Seahorse Bowl.
It was renamed simply, Island Bowl. The exterior was repaired and rebuilt where needed, and the interior of the building was completely renovated with all new lanes and new, state-of-the-art Brunswick equipment.
This second incarnation of the Seawall’s bowling facility outlasted the first, if only by a couple of years, and after a partner acquisition, Island Bowl stayed in the Risinger family for the entirety of its existence. And once again, only nature personified could be responsible for its undoing - Hurricane Ike in September 2008.
Although the building was entirely protected from the storm surge that invaded the harbor side of the Island, the interior still sustained significant water damage after Ike’s brutal winds shredded parts of the roof and left it unprotected from the rain.
Owner Duane Risinger did have insurance on the building, but he explained to the local newspaper that the cost to reopen - a task that would require among other minor repairs, entirely new carpet and a complete replacement of the electronic scoring system - would be around $850,000, an insurmountable sum for any small business. Risinger was also concerned that the large number of residents and businesses that were displaced by the storm did not bode well for business levels.
Island Bowl was never reopened. The property was purchased in 2012 by affiliates of Landry’s, Inc. and is used as storage.