Marin Voice: Across county, we need to create more young adult activity centers

In July 2021, Country Club Bowl, in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, closed its doors permanently. According to news reports, after struggling through the COVID-19 lockdown, severe structural damage was discovered in the roof, causing it to finally shut down.

Prior to the pandemic, the bowling alley was usually filled with adults, teens and kids alike as a place for them to bowl, play arcade games and have fun with friends and family.

Activity hubs like bowling alleys have slowly left Marin County, creating a void that is especially apparent in the youth population. Since Country Club Bowl’s closure, the closest alleys for Marin residents are AMF Bowling in Petaluma or Presidio Bowl across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Marin County urgently needs new entertainment and recreational hubs to fill the gap left by these closures. Without local options, residents — especially youth — are forced to leave the county for entertainment, draining both time and money.

In addition to bowling alleys, Marin is noticeably lacking in other child-centric attractions such as arcades and trampoline parks. An online search reveals just four arcades in Marin, with the nearest trampoline parks to the county being in the San Francisco Presidio neighborhood and Rohnert Park. These spots provide kids and young adults places to hang out during the day and at night, keeping them engaged in community activities and out of their houses.

As well as these indoor hubs, Marin must support more innovative recreational areas to get people active and outdoors as well. Many would agree that, when Country Club Bowl shut down, it led to the downfall of Urban Soccer Park. The collection of outdoor turf futsal fields that were residing in the bowling alley parking lot had been an area often packed with youth teams during the day and adult amateur leagues at night.

Although Marin has some spaces such as McInnis Skatepark and the nearby mini golf course, the demand for more venues is massive, especially considering the county’s abundance of beautiful outdoor spaces. Places like the mini golf course often attract large crowds, but their support alone cannot keep these businesses alive. By investing in new and diverse activity centers, we can shorten wait times, making trips to these places more enjoyable and efficient for the community.

Moreover, implementing more local entertainment options would save residents massive amounts of money and time. Today, the two main ways to access most activities are either driving up north to places like Petaluma or Rohnert Park, forcing residents to spend a lot of money on gasoline on a drive that can stretch for up to two hours, or fighting the traffic, bridge toll and exorbitant prices on an excursion into San Francisco. Both these options are incredibly inefficient, which pushes people away from spending time with their friends and family at these centers.

Although Marin County’s median age of 48.2 is 10 years higher than the state median, according to the U.S, Census Bureau, with older residents less likely to engage in these activities as much as the youth, there is still a significant market in Marin.

According to the U.S. Census, there are over 56,000 Marin County residents aged 19 years and younger. These residents – elementary, middle and high schoolers alike – often seek out places to go during summer, on weekends and after school. Without adequate facilities, however, kids and young adults push back into their houses, only interacting with friends virtually.

Across the county, residents need to show companies that they are valued here and help keep them in business. The pandemic was hard on a lot of in-person establishments, causing foreclosures and shuttered doors of loved local businesses. By supporting businesses and showing them that we care, we can encourage them to reopen and return to the county as well as have some fun ourselves.

Finn Nelson, of Larkspur, is a student at Redwood High School.