Next month marks the first anniversary of the closing of Sunset Bowl, 1400 N.W. Market St. Since then, it has gone from a once-vibrant center of life in Ballard to a withered-up husk of a building as it waits to be demolished and redeveloped.

As we wait for this redevelopment, I think it is a good time to think about what was lost when it was closed and wonder what the future will hold for bowling in Ballard.

Sunset Bowl was one of my all-time favorite bowling alleys. The lanes were in tip-top shape and it was comforting to know that if you had the urge to go bowling at 3:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, you could go to Sunset. It also had a sense of community that I haven’t seen at many other bowling alleys.

If you came in during the afternoon, there would be seniors playing cards in the restaurant, kids having birthday parties, teenagers hanging out after school, and profs getting strike after strike. If you came on a Saturday night, the place would be filled with people bowling over beers and doing karaoke. I never went down there on a league night because it always looked so crowded, but I imagine it was a lot of fun for those who are into bowling competitively.

Last winter rumors started circulating that Sunset might be closing down because they were being offered a lot of money from developers. Then the rumors proved true and it was announced Sunset would be closing in April 2008.

Sunset always seemed like a pretty profitable venture to me but business really picked up the last few months as everyone began paying their last respects. My girlfriend, my friend and I sang the last karaoke song ever the last Saturday night at Sunset (“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen), a fact I will always be proud of.

Then came the estate sale, and then-nothing.

It’s been a year since Sunset was closed and it just sits there and awaits its fate. Seeing it in its dilapidated state is almost too much to bear.

The developers plan to build a six-story mixed-use building with apartments above retail shops and parking. I still have not heard whether they plan to put a bowling alley in one of the retail spaces.

Jim Bristow of Save Sunset Bowl has been trying to make sure that the developers, AvalonBay Communities, include a bowling alley in their new property. If that does not work, Jim was thinking of opening a new, smaller bowling alley somewhere in Ballard.

If you want to see any of this happen, make comments at one of the design meetings or help out the efforts of Save Sunset Bowl.

In the meantime, every time we pass by what is left of Sunset Bowl we are reminded of what has been lost.

Sunset Bowl was a unique community gathering space, a place where people of all ages could hang out, united by their love of bowling. As Sunset still proudly proclaims from its rooftop, “Bowling is fun!”

There is still time to participate in the design review process and make your voice heard. Let AvalonBay know you want bowling and fun to live on in Ballard.

(The next design review meeting for the development proposed to replace the Sunset Bowl is tentatively scheduled in the Ballard High School Library, 1418 N.W. 65th St., April 27 at 6:30.)