The Wabash Cannon Bowl — the Kansas State Student Union’s bowling center — is home to many bowling balls, shoes and lanes to provide low-cost entertainment to students at $2.25 per person per game before 6 p.m. and $2.75 per person a game at night.
Although the Little Apple Bowling Alley only charges $2 per game, the Wabash Cannon Bowl is within walking distance for students who live on campus, making it much more convenient.
“I’ve never bowled at Little Apple Bowl, but my friends and I have gone multiple times to the union bowling alley because it’s always been a last-minute thing for us and it was easy to just walk there,” Joe Pasley, sophomore in marketing, said.
Most of the Wabash Cannon Bowl’s customers are students, a different crowd compared to the Little Apple Bowl, which attracts customers from across the city.
“I have gone during dead week because it is a good place to just relax and take your mind of the stress of finals for a couple hours,” Alexa Cowan, sophomore in elementary education, said.
Currently the bowling alley has 16 lanes that allow eight people to bowl per lane, so at any given time, 128 people can bowl.
There are approximately 100 bowling balls available for beginner to intermediate bowlers, said manager Jesse Gibson. About 350 students will shuffle in and out of the bowling alley on an average weekday.
“I go to the bowling alley because it’s an affordable, close place for friends and I to go when we’re bored or wanting something fun to do that’s walking distance,” Cowan said.
“The weather is our biggest factor for how many students decide to come play,” said Gibson. “The weekends are our busiest time. We can have up to 500-700 students come in throughout the day and night.”
Bowlers can rent one of 220 pairs of shoes for $2.25 per pair, while shoes at the Little Apple Bowing Alley cost $2.50 per person.
In order to keep the shoes clean, the bowling alley uses shoe cleaner.
“I go through about one to two spray bottles of cleaner a week,” said employee Mickey White.
That averages out to about 64 cans of cleaner a school year, not including summer breaks.
