Nostalgia: Kirkcaldy bowling alley burns down

The Fife Free Press in July 1990 reported that two men were spotted leaving the High Street premises shortly before the building was destroyed in a spectacular blaze.

Fife Police launched an investigation into the inferno which razed the Alma Bowl at the top of the Olympia Arcade on the night of July 14, 1990.

In a huge fire-fighting operation, 70 firemen from all over the Kingdom fought the blaze which was reported shortly after 9:00 pm.

Residents in nearby homes were evacuated in case the flames spread.

A new garage, opened only that morning was water-damaged when firemen were forced to dampen the roof to block the fire’s progress.

Surrounding streets were closed to traffic while fire teams, using 10 appliances and two hydraulic platforms, battled for almost three hours to extinguish the blaze.

The fire started in the roof space of the disused bowling alley and quickly spread, covering the west of Kirkcaldy in thick, black smoke.

Cars in the then brand new Abbotshall Motors Fiat garage had to be taken from the showroom while the garage roof was doused with water.

“We were five minutes away from not being there at all, and the firemen really saved the day,” the general manager, Russell Keaney, told the FFP

Raymond Shanley, owner of Raymond’s Hair Salon in the Arcade was called out to his premises about 9.30pm to check for damage.

He said: “I was looking around when a fireman ran in and told me to get out quickly.

“The next minute the whole of the roof above the bowling alley caved in and the flames shot up into the sky, shattering the glass in the windows of houses nearby.”

After the fire, depute firemaster, Tony Clark confirmed that the entire building had been destroyed.

“When we arrived it was already well alight and our main job was to protect surrounding property.

“Residents of houses in Nicol Street were evacuated, and we cleared the garage of cars as a precautionary measure,” he added.

The building’s owner, Carlo Valente, said he’d been working on plans to reopen the building and intended to continue doing so.

“We have had a lot of trouble trying to get these premises open again,” he said, “and it was only last Thursday that we were granted an entertainments licence for the premises.

“We are hoping the building will soon be up again.”

Despite Mr Valente’s intentions, the premises were never rebuilt and eventually the ruins were demolished.

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