Walt Disney owned a bowling alley? Celebrity Sports Center in Denver
by Tim Larison
Did you know Walt Disney once owned a bowling alley, and that it was used to train workers for Disney World? One of the fun places to visit in my youth was Celebrity Sports Center in Denver. Celebrity was the first major Disney construction project after the completion of Disneyland. Celebrity opened in 1960 and was owned by Disney until the late 70’s. It featured 88 bowling lanes and an Olympic sized indoor swimming pool.
Celebrity used to have a great “passport to summer fun” program in the summer that I took advantage of with my friends many times. For one price (as I remember around $6) you could have a day of unlimited bowling, unlimited swimming, and play in Celebrity’s “state of the art” video arcade. What good times we had! I remember bowling 15 games one day at Celebrity!
We were sad to see Celebrity torn down in the mid-90’s, replaced by a large hardware store. But the memories live on. Recently an excellent history of Celebrity was published on the web – read it here. And another Celebrity tribute site is here. For kids growing up in the Denver area in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s Celebrity Sports Center will always be fondly remembered.
I grew up near Celebrity in the 70s and 80s. I went all the way from being dropped off in the nursery by my parents when they bowled to joining my first league there when I was eighteen. An absolutely unique and special place. Ironically (and fortunately for me) I live in Orlando now. Disney is a part of me.
Amen! Celebrity sports center and Walt Disney , awesome!!!!
Celebrity sports center was 80 lanes! I loved to go and put a hundred games a week in bowling in every summer week. Later in life to sanction 7 300 games. I truly miss this place. I now live in Las Vegas and look upon the world and see that children truly don’t have a place to go and escape from pressures of life. Celebrity sports center was the best ever! I bowled with many pros along the way. I miss this place. Memories are good always and forever!