Debuting next to the Asbury Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the iconic entertainment venue Asbury Lanes is poised to make its return to the beachside community this summer following a thorough renovation. Outfitted with advanced bowling technology, the city landmark will once again serve as a fixture of the area’s thriving music scene and feature a secret passageway connecting it with the Asbury hotel next door, which is part of the multibillion redevelopment of Asbury Park by New York real-estate investment company iStar.
The venue will be designed by Anda Andrei, president of her eponymous firm and creative lead for the Asbury Park redevelopment project, and operated by Salt Hotels, which were also responsible for the hotel. Andrei tapped architect Dominic Kozerski of New York-based Bonetti/Kozerski to help rejuvenate the building.
Asbury Lanes’ iconic bowling pin signage will be reinstalled as part of the restoration, while the classic logo will receive a modern twist on the newly whitewashed brick exterior. The famous ocean-maid mural from Pork Chop will get refreshed and expanded, while a new mural from the local artist will depict an entangled octopus and squid on the building’s opposite wall. Layers of classic rock posters have been preserved, and temporary stark lighting installed during construction will be permanently outfitted into the interior.
“We want to amplify what’s already here,” says Brian Cheripka, senior vice president of iStar. “We have an opportunity to capture Asbury Park’s incredible sense of place through the properties we are developing and although it involved a much greater investment than building a new building, we chose to restore as much of the original building as we could.
