The History of Arapahoe Bowling Center
Family-owned since 1985, Arapahoe Bowling Center has grown and changed through the years while staying focused on the bowling community that helped build it.
Where It All Began
Vernon Gensch, who served four years as an Army demolition sergeant and later retired as a Tenneco Division Administrative Manager, opened Arapahoe Bowling Center with his wife, Jean Gensch, on December 5, 1985. Jean had worked as a secretary at an engineering school in Virginia.
With help from investors, Vernon created the bowling center he had always envisioned, with tall ceilings, bright lighting, a large concourse, and a welcoming family atmosphere. His goal was to make Arapahoe the #1 place to bowl.
His son Fred Gensch, along with Kris and daughter Jamie, moved from Oklahoma to help operate the family business. From there, the focus was clear: make Arapahoe the place to go for Real Bowling.
At the time, Arapahoe Bowl featured 40 lanes, an enclosed bar and lounge with a small attached snack bar, a children's playroom, a small pro shop, and a front counter located in the middle of the concourse. The center built its reputation around loyal league bowlers, hosted many PBA tournaments, and established itself as a clean, friendly place to bowl.
A Major Remodel
After more than 20 years, Vernon retired and his son Fred took over the business. Fred decided it was time to update the center. With fewer leagues filling all 40 lanes and several other improvements in mind, Arapahoe Bowl began a complete remodel in the summer of 2006.
The remodel reduced the center to 32 lanes and created a large arcade in the former lane 33–40 area, including the popular “Smallball” attraction. The bar moved into the former playroom, the restaurant was expanded, the Pro Shop moved into the former lounge, and the Front Counter moved from the center of the concourse into the former Pro Shop location. The small arcade room became a cigar bar, which later closed and became storage.
The remodel created a more open bowling center. When Arapahoe reopened in the fall of 2006, the business continued to grow stronger.
Bringing Back 40 Lanes
In the summer of 2018, continued growth led to another major change: Arapahoe needed the eight lanes that had been removed during the 2006 remodel.
The wall came down and the arcade was removed to make room for eight additional lanes. A pinball room was added in the area that had originally housed the arcade in 1985 and later became the cigar bar after the 2006 remodel. Arapahoe also installed 40 brand-new lanes, along with new carpet, new masking units, and other improvements.
The expanded area opened on January 1, 2019, bringing Arapahoe back to 40 lanes while keeping many of the improvements introduced during the 2006 remodel.
Covid
After the remodel in 2018, Arapahoe Bowl was filling up all 40 lanes with league bowling every night!
The league base just kept growing and growing, until Covid hit in 2020.
Just like any other business, they had to grind their way through it all and luckily, was able to stay afloat.
Arapahoe Bowl was closed for an entire month due to the lockdown and had to adjust how many bowlers could be in the building for many months.
Eventually in 2021, restrictions lessoned and bowlers were able to come back in full capacity.
Busier, Busier & Busier
Once business was back to normal, business kept growing and growing! Arapahoe Bowl has become a destination for all league bowlers. We host ladies leagues, senior leagues, mixed handicap leagues, youth leagues, scratch leagues all throughout the week. Morning, Noon & Night ~ we are rocking! We host many local tournaments on the weekends The ABC Eliminator tournament has become extremely popular. We've even hosted a very successful Pro Day that featured Top PBA Superstars EJ Tackett, Sean Rash, Danielle McEwean, & Stephanie Zavalla
We keep things updated every summer and customers appreciate and notice all the hard work.
In these years, we updated our Scoring System to BES X, installed automatic doors, we keep our 8270 Pinsetters in top notch shape, getting new durabins and updated controls, and we had 2 murals painted on lanes 1 and lanes 40 by an amazing artist name Chris Carlson just to name a few things.
We have a great social media presence and people know we are "The Place To Go For Real Bowling"
Still a Family Business
In 2025, Arapahoe Bowl celebrated a major milestone, 40 years of business! They celebrated with specials throughout the season and thanking all the customers for their continued support.
In the summer of 2026, we updated our some of counter tops with a brand new, modern look. This remodel wasn't as much as the previous 2 remodels, but its enough to tell a difference!
Today, Fred Gensch is the President and Owner and Billy Gensch is V.P. of Operations/Marketing and 40 years later, they are still a family business and business is stronger than ever!
Arapahoe Bowl would not be where it is today without the staff members who have helped make it the place to bowl.
This includes, but is not limited to, C.O.O. Tyson Lundquist, General Manager Chris Fiser, Head Mechanic Chris Curran, Office Manager/League Administrator Katrice Roskelley, Bar Manager Kori Lundquist, Kitchen Manager Brandon Wallace, Weekend Supervisor Jon Cifuentes along with ALL past, present, and future employees of Arapahoe Bowl.
It is another chapter in Arapahoe's history, and the story continues.
