T-L Photo/JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH A sign featuring a phoenix, the mythical bird known for rising from its ashes, adorns the side of the new Chestnut Lanes building in Barnesville. The original building, constructed in 1963, was destroyed by fire last year.

BARNESVILLE — The longtime owner of Chestnut Lanes bowling alley is working hard to rebuild and eventually reopen his business after a fire destroyed it just before Thanksgiving 2020.

A.J. Corder has owned the bowling alley since he bought it from his parents in 1999 and continued the family business. He said the structure is being rebuilt in the same location where the former building stood. The new facility will have a floor plan similar to that of the original building, with a few modern touches.

“It’s roughly the same, but it’s going to be up to date. I expanded it a little bit. I added about 800 square foot, but it’s roughly the same floor plan,” he said. “We have some upgrades like automatic bumpers. We’re putting couches in, coffee tables with USB outlets so people can charge their phones. There will be a lot of things that will cater to today’s technology.”

On Nov. 16, 2020, Corder received a phone call about a fire at his beloved family business. He rushed to the scene, where he witnessed thick smoke and flames coming from the building. It took firefighters hours to extinguish the flames, and the building was considered a total loss. It was later determined by the insurance company that the cause was an electrical problem with a pop machine near the snack bar area.

Corder said workers were able to salvage the bar, tables and lanes from the 1963 building. He plans to repurpose those items for the new bowling alley.

He said they started the rebuild in September. The exterior of the new facility has been erected, and crews continue to work on the interior.

“We’re completely indoors now except we’re framing the sidewalk and marking out the handicap spots and forming the outdoor patio. All of the building structurally is all done — the walls, roof, downspout, gutters. Now we’re working on the inside,” Corder said, adding that they recently completed all of the underground plumbing and electrical work and poured concrete on the interior floor. He said they also began painting the interior last week.

Corder said he is now waiting for the electrical work to be completed before the bowling equipment company can begin to install the lanes, gutters, bumpers and scoring machines.

He said the rebuild has taken a bit longer than he initially expected due to delays in shipping and increases in material costs.

“The biggest problem was getting the building. It took us seven months to get the building when normally we should’ve gotten it in six to eight weeks,” he said. “When I ordered it there was also about a 25 percent increase (in price), now it’s 100 percent increase. It’s outrageous to try and do construction or even operate a business right now.”

Corder is hoping to have the business reopened in late February or early March.

“As long as we don’t get any more delays in materials, we should be good,” he said.

The community has been a great support to Corder, both before the fire and since. He said he is grateful for that.

“They’ve been behind us ever since. They’ve always supported us — when COVID hit, the town supported me because I had to shut down. We weren’t allowed to bowl, so we did deliveries and takeout. The town supported us then, and when the fire happened they came out of the woodwork and supported us then to not only help tear out some of the things I could salvage,” he said. “The town has been phenomenal. They always have been, and I expect they’ll be here when we open up as well.”

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