VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s much more than a bowling alley to dozens of people who protested today to save their local hang-out.

Protesters marched outside the Varsity Ridge Bowling Alley on West 15th this afternoon out of fear the potential re-development will mean a piece of the community will destroyed by a wrecking ball.

“In one fell swoop we are also losing a theatre, we are losing a gathering place, we are losing a centre,” says one frustrated woman.

Carrie Riches is furious at the thought the alley would be taken down.  She often goes there with her children and parents and says it is a place for many seniors to get exercise.  She says they don’t want to have to drive to find some form of entertainment.

“If we don’t have enough for our youth to do, what are they going to do?  It is not too hard to think about that and the direction that it could go.”

Karen also frequents Varsity and is upset her bowling alley could soon be a thing of the past.  “It is a sense of history and a sense of community and a sense of culture that I just can’t bear to see go.”

The plaza where the bowling alley is will be torn down to make room for a condo development.