City Grants Freeway Lanes $25,000 for Outdoor Dining & Other Upgrades

An outdoor dining area and a "game zone" with laser tag are among the additions people should later expect at Freeway Lanes.

City officials announced the upgrades on managing partner Glenn Gable's behalf Tuesday, as council approved a Mentor Incentive Grant to help out with the project. Freeway officials believe their $1.2 million re-imaging project would result in more business and the ability to double their payroll to more than $600,000.

Mentor's grant would provide a total of $25,000 to Freeway Lanes over five years as long as the company keeps up with its payroll pledge.

"This is a project is with Mentor's, really, premier and only bowling alley in town," city manager Ken Filipiak said. "This is a project we're pleased to see move forward."

Freeway Lanes also plans on upgrading its exterior, shifting and upgrading its kitchen, bar and dance floor, according to Gable's plans, which economic development director Ron Traub shared with the audience. Corporate party rooms will also be installed, along with the game zone and outdoor dining.

Though the grant does not account for a large portion of Freeway's project cost, Mentor officials hope its impact is much greater. The few businesses operating in the city under the "entertainment" description — like Freeway or Atlas Cinemas — pay an admissions tax that others don't. The bowling alley pays about 3 percent of its ticket sales back to city, which equaled about $20,000 last year. Those funds are mostly used for the city's recreation department, Filipiak said.

Traub admitted that the tax is a "disincentive" to similar businesses coming to Mentor. Officials hope the city's willingness to provide incentive grants will keep companies interested in relocating here and reinvesting in their firms in the future.

"As a result of this reinvestment of this facility, it will hopefully attract more individuals into the community, which will in turn raise the admissions tax credited to the city," Traub said. "We're investing money into a project that will not only pay, as we have seen with other projects, payroll taxes, but also, secondarily, an increase in admissions tax revenues."