MILFORD – A Massachusetts man whose family founded the Woburn, Mass., Bowladrome 70 years ago has bought the old bowling alley building on Elm Street.

Al Gangi, owner of Cape Ann Lanes in Gloucester, Mass., said he is remodeling the entire building and will refinish the 12 lanes, add automatic scoring, “cosmic bowling” with strobe lights and Internet-connected juke box, and a new snack bar that will sell beer, wine, pizza and hot dogs. There will also be party rooms for birthday parties and special deals for children.

Renovations will begin next week, and a June opening is planned, said Gangi, who is president of the Massachusetts Bowling Association.

His family has owned and operated the Woburn Bowladrome since 1940.

The new candlepin bowling alley will be called Milford Lanes.

Gangi said he bought the building, “because it’s there. It was up for sale, and it’s in decent shape.”

The building was most recently the home of Tony’s Lanes, but most people around here remember it as Bowlmor Lanes, which shut down in 2006, after 45 years, after the death of its owner.

Bowling might seem like an old-fashioned sport, but its popularity endures and it seems to be weathering economic hard times well.

About 70 million people in the United States bowled at least once last year, Gangi said,

Milford Lanes will be part of the nationwide kids-bowl-free program that lets children bowl two free games every day in the summer.

Candlepin bowling was invented in 1880 in Worcester, Mass. and came to Milford in 1883, when the Ponemah Hotel, on Ponemah Hill Road, was built and alleys were installed in the basement.

Since then there have been several bowling alleys, according to the town history, including one on Prospect Street and one downtown near the Stone Bridge.

In 1961 Louis Kregos built a brick bowling alley on Elm Street and called it Bowlmor Lanes. It shut down in 2006 following the death of owner Emma Kregos and her daughter, Sandy Kennon.

Bowling fans had high hopes in 2007 when Anthony S. Matarazzo bought the building and reopened it as Tony’s Lanes, but it closed a year later over what were described as legal issues.

Candlepin versus 10-pin

Candlepin bowling is the kind most often seen in northern New England and eastern Canada.

The balls are much smaller than 10-pin balls and do not have holes, the downed pins (known as ‘wood’) are not cleared away during a player’s turn, and the pins are thinner and harder to knock down.

There is another variety of bowling, also with smaller balls, called duckpin, found in Maryland and New Jersey.