SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – A new entertainment venue combining bowling, pizza and arcade games is preparing to open on Wayne Street as part of ongoing downtown South Bend redevelopment efforts.
Ivy Alley Social House, created by mother-son duo Karen and Nathan Klein, will occupy the renovated Spenner Garage, a nearly 100-year-old building. The venue represents years of planning by the Kleins to open a business together.
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The Kleins salvaged items from scrapyards to create furniture that complements the historic building’s rustic feel. Wine press tables fill the front dining area, while old bourbon staves wrap around the host stand. Wire spool tops serve as tables in the main dining room.
“We’ve tried to incorporate multiple different salvaged items, things that have already had one life, and giving them a new purpose,” said Nathan Klein, co-owner of Ivy Alley Social House.
Pizza serves as Ivy Alley’s signature dish, prepared in classic Italian style inside a stone oven at temperatures over 700 degrees. The high heat chars the crust for crunch while keeping the interior light and airy.
The venue will feature more than 70 board games, free arcade games and duckpin bowling. Duckpin bowling uses balls about the size of tennis balls but much denser, weighing under five pounds.
“Duckpin, in some ways, is harder. In some ways, it’s easier,” Klein said. “Because there’s less mass behind it, it causes less momentum and is harder to actually get a strike.”
The Kleins emphasized the social aspect of their venue, hoping it becomes a downtown gathering place. The location sits near Four Winds Field, where new apartment complexes and sports bars are also planned.
“We are super excited to have South Bend coming into Ivy Alley, and we are really just hoping to grow this area, this district of the downtown South Bend area and promote some extra unity in the community,” said Karen Klein, co-owner.
The venue plans to serve visitors attending games and provide a social space for the community.
Opening details will be announced on Ivy Alley’s Facebook page.
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