Capitol Lanes was a 50-lane bowling alley and multi-tenant facility located at 1237 W Divide Ave that operated from 1981-2004. It was the area’s largest bowling alley upon closing.
The Sagsveen family established Capitol Lanes on December 30, 1980 with twenty-four lanes. The facility expanded one year later to forty lanes, and then again in 1983 to fifty lanes. Thunder Alley bowling was added in 1997.
Capitol Lanes closed in May 2004, leaving the state’s second largest city without a bowling alley. In response, Midway Lanes, in nearby Mandan, soon expanded to fifty-two lanes, two more than Capitol Lanes previously had.
Today, the facility houses West Central Human Services.
Note: Capitol Lanes is often spelled “Capital” Lanes in various sources, and its italicized logo didn’t help the confusion when the “o” could be misinterpreted as an “a.”
WIBC Tournament
Capitol Lanes achieved national attention when, in 1989, it hosted the Women’s International Bowling Congress (WIBC) tournament with other regional alleys. The event drew in 44,000 bowlers over the course of the tournament.
Capitol Lanes Plaza
The center (as Capitol Lanes Plaza) also housed a cafe, bar, and arcade on the upper floor with the bowling alley. For some time, its cafe housed a Piccadilly Circus Pizza franchise.
Below the alley housed retail tenants, which over the time included D&D Food, a gas station, golf store, liquor store, package store, nursery, school supply store, Greyhound Bus Depot, and Hair Hospital.
