AMF CHAIN SEEKS SPARE CHANGE FIRM REORGANIZES, FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION; NO CLOSURES PLANNED.

Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer

First, the skating rinks rolled up. Then movie theaters flopped. And now the nation's biggest chain of bowling alleys is striking out, another victim of economic and cultural changes that have whittled away at the traditional summertime haunts.

AMF filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday to whittle down some debt, but the company's perception is that bowling remains just as popular as it was in the 1950s. Indeed, there are no plans to close bowling alleys as part of the reorganization.

``There has been an increase in interest with kids ... we just digested too much after opening 267 bowling centers nationally and internationally,'' said Merrell Wreden, a spokesman for AMF.

And according to Kevin Skislock, an entertainment analyst with Laguna Research Partners, AMF's indigestion hasn't been felt by the bowling industry as a whole.

``The bowling market is very healthy and it looks like it will continue to be just as healthy in the coming years,'' Skislock said.

It's the same good face put on by theater owners, who have seen the number of screens steadily decline over the past year. Several of the largest chains have declared bankruptcies after building scores of modern megaplexes. Amid a mountain of debt, exhibitors shed 1,500 screens last year and an additional 800 in the first quarter of 2001.

Mario Townsend, general manager of the Ice Chalet in Panorama City, figures people - kids mostly - have moved away from entertainment and recreation sports because of the fascination with computer games.

``With the advent of video games we are becoming so much more hands off,'' Townsend said. ``And when you think of ice skating, it all seems so old-fashioned that it's natural it will be on the decline.''

AMF figures there's still enough interest in bowling to remain open once the company is reorganized. In fact, at the AMF in Van Nuys, it's bowling as usual, said Cindy Macklin, a snack bar attendant.

``A lot of camps are coming in this summer and leagues are forming,'' she said.

At Corbin Bowling Center in Tarzana, the lanes are teeming with amateur bowlers, bouncing balls off bumpers, hoping to nail a strike, or at least a spare.

``We do a tremendous amount of business during the summer and with the rockin' bowl, as soon as you turn the lights out, it's more a recreation than a sport,'' said Gary Montgomery, general manager of the Corbin facility.

On a typical rockin' bowl night, fluorescent colors ricochet off the walls, rock music cascades across the lanes and glow-in-the-dark bowling balls move like shooting stars, Montgomery said.

Jack Kelly, CEO of the Bowling Proprietors Association, said bowling remains the largest indoor recreational activity - ahead of going to the movies.

``It's No. 1, tied with fishing, as the top recreational activity in the U.S.,'' Kelly said.

The appeal of taking a 9- to 16-pound plastic ball and rolling it down a lane might seem rather unappealing, but to Kelly, it's the thrill of knocking down a pyramid of pins that keeps the customers coming back.

``And though the shirts are corny, people that wear them like Kramer (from TV's ``Seinfeld'') make them hot,'' Kelly said.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Bowler David Hill finds the lanes a bit lonely Tuesday at the AMF Rocket Bowl on De Soto Avenue in Chatsworth.

(2 -- color) Larry Bell of Northridge takes a shot at the pins Tuesday at Rocket Bowl. The alley's owner, AMF, is filing for bankruptcy.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer