On January 23, 2005 during the weekend of the huge snowstorm of that year, a heating pipe froze and burst in the offices above the Bowlaway. During that weekend there was so much water leaking down into the Bowlaway it was practically raining inside! Unfortunately due to the snow, no one had been in the building all weekend long, so no one was there to see or stop the damage. On Monday morning January 24, a cleaning man for the offices noticed the floor was completely soaked with water. He notified the landlord who then immediatly called us to let us know there was a problem. When Scott arrived the entire front door had a sheet of ice covering it, and when he opened it to enter the building he was hit with an aweful smell of mildew and moisture. In his exact words, "The whole place smelled like an old dirty fishtank". . All of the machines were coated in rust! This is what that part is supposed to look like! Most of the water had come down over the Pinsetting machines. Because of this all of our machines were completely rusted out. We spoke with a company called Candlepin Sales, they specalize in rebuilding Candlepin Bowling machines. They rebuild them because they aren't made any more. You can't buy a new Candlepin machine, all of them have been either rebuilt or fabricated out of new and old parts. Candlepin Sales took a look at the damage and estimated that it would take at least six weeks to restore the machines. . rusted refurbished In order for Candlepin Sales to rebuild the machines, they had to take them out, place them on the lanes themselves, and do the work there. There wasn't enough room to work on them down back. . The machines on the lanes Mike (Liz's brother), and Scott looking over the mess! . Looking towards the score tables Looking towards the stairs from the lanes . rusted machinery More rusted machinery . the lanes with no machines building the shoe wall Needham Bowlaway home