Page 10 - BusinessWest June 17, 2024

The new ownership group at Shaker Bowl (from left, Paul Thompson, Brendan Greeley, Amy Greeley, Marc Murphy, General Manager Justin Godfrey, Adam Oliveri, Kim Oliveri, Jordan Healy, and Andrew Robb) is making changes to make the facility even more family-friendly.
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Records.
There are also new owners (a large
group, in fact) of one the town’s older and perhaps better- known institutions, Shaker Bowl, located, as that name sug- gests, on Shaker Road.
Brendan Greeley, one of those new owners, said the group saw an oppor- tunity to not only continue a more than 60-year-old tradition, but make some needed improvements and additions to make the facility even more family- friendly and more of a destination.
“We came at it like entrepreneurs; we wanted to make the facility better and more accommodating for families and more accommodating for businesses
to come in and have their corporate events,” he said, adding that improve- ments have included renovations to the party room, new lighting, new bowling software that allows young people to knock down a castle instead of pins, and
more. “For kids coming in for a party, there are a lot more options now.”
For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on East Longmeadow, where many forms of progress and momentum are evident.
Classroom for Improvement
As he talked about the high-school project and all that goes into it, Smith said this is more than a generational undertaking. We’re talking about several generations.
“The goal is for this building to last equally as long as the last one,” he said, adding that the facility will be state-of-the-art in every way, especially with regard to technology.
“We think it’s going to be a building that firmly puts East Long-
“We came at it like entrepreneurs;
we wanted to make the facility better and more accommodating for families
and more accommodating for businesses to come in and have their corporate events.”
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East Longmeadow
East Longmeadow, or continue living there, at a time when most new homes being built there come with price tags approaching $1 million.
“This is a desirable community, but most of the housing stock is detached single-family,” Christensen explained. “With the new high school, and thinking about the cost of living, we’re trying to see if an affordable-housing component makes sense in the downtown area, with some kind of density housing.”
Several new businesses have opened in the community as well, including a Chase Bank branch in the center of town; a lingerie, bra-fitting, and swimsuit store called Gazebo Too; and Raspberry
10 JUNE 24, 2024 << COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
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