Sergeant in the Army for Demolition for 4 years and retired Tenneco Division Administrative Manager Vernon Gensch, and his wife, Secretary at Engineering school in Virginia Jean Gensch first opened Arapahoe Bowling Center on December 5, 1985. With help from investors he was able to create the ideal bowling center that he had always envisioned: Tall ceilings, bright lights, and a big concourse area just to name a few. He wanted a family vibe and wanted to be the #1 place for bowling. His son Fred Gensch and ex-wife Kris, along with daughter Jamie, moved from his oil field job in Oklahoma to help run the family business. From then on it was time to make Arapahoe the place to go for Real Bowling.

At that point in time Arapahoe Bowl had 40 lanes, enclosed bar & lounge with a small snack bar attached, a playroom for kids, a small pro shop and the front counter was directly in the middle. We have always catered to our loyal league bowlers and we hosted many PBA tournaments and established ourselves as a clean, friendly and great place to bowl. Arapahoe Bowl has had steady success over the years.

  • Below are pictures of the construction & original 1985 Arapahoe Bowling Center

After 20+ years, Vernon retired & his son Fred took over the business. Fred decided it was time to upgrade. At this time, we didn’t fill all the lanes for leagues and had a few other changes we wanted to make, so in the summer of 2006 Arapahoe Bowl undertook a complete remodel. 

The changes in the 2006 remodel:

  • Arapahoe Bowl went to 32 lanes
  • Huge arcade area with many activities including the popular “Smallball” giving it the nickname “Smallball Area”
    • Where lanes 33 – 40 were
  • Moved the bar to where the playroom was.
  • Extended the restaurant 
  • Moved the Pro Shop to where the lounge was.
  • Moved the Front Counter from the center of the concourse to where the pro shop was.
  • Small Arcade room became a Cigar Bar (which closed soon after remodel and ended up a storage room)

It made the bowling center nice and open.

Once we reopened in the fall of 2006, we had continued success and grew stronger and stronger!!

This is still the current layout but there has been 1 change…. (scroll down)

  • Below are pictures from the 2006 remodel

Starting the summer of 2018, we decided to make a change again because business was so good!

  • We needed the 8 lanes we took out in the first remodel of 2006.
  • The wall was torn down and our arcade was demolished!
  • We added a pinball room where the original arcade was in 1985 – Where the Cigar Bar was after 06′ remodel
  • And we installed 40 brand new lanes!!

We opened the area on January 1, 2019

We are now a great mixture of the 1985 center 40 lanes and the 2006 center!

  • Below are pictures of the arcade, the demolition of the arcade, and the installation of 40 new lanes, new carpet & new masking units just to name a few things.

Today Fred is the Owner and CEO and his son Billy Gensch is a Manager and focuses on Marketing & Sales to help make business the best it has ever been! We are truly a family business.

Arapahoe Bowl could not be where it is today without the great staff members that make Arapahoe Bowl the place to bowl.

This includes but is not limited to: C.O.O. Tyson Lundquist, Night Time Manager Chris Fiser, Head Mechanic Chris Curran & Long Time Tenured Employees: Chuck Marshall, Katrice Roskelley, Ben Owens & Michael Smith along with all past, present and future employees of Arapahoe Bowl! 

Just another piece of history to add to our story and business is better then ever!