48 lanes in 48 days. That’s how long it took the United States Bowling Congress to set up for its 2018 Championships at the Oncenter. The event is weeks away, but they will host a trio of events to kick off their time in Syracuse, including a state competition for high school students starting Friday. Senior Director of Tournament Programming, Greg Moore, says the kickoff is their way of introducing championships to the community.
"By having the other ancillary events, the high school event and the city tournament, we hope that that, you know, helps bring some of the folks in. The USBC Masters will attract people."
Moore took the media on a tour of the convention hall, which has been transformed for the tournaments. He says there have been a number of improvements since the USBC’s last championship in Syracuse in 2011.
"What you'll find here is a state of the art sound system, a custom built $5 million LED scoreboard indicative of a location prepared to host the highest level of competition. The lanes behind me, they are some of the most level in the world. They double our standard by more than 100 percent. That provides a true level playing field for all the competitors."
Moore says the area’s bars and restaurants will a see a lot more traffic than what they saw in 2011. Mayor Ben Walsh says returning bowlers will notice that downtown has undergone many changes in the last seven years.
"Over the course of that time our downtown population has more than doubled. We currently have almost 4,000 people living in downtown. We have really seen a complete transformation of our urban core and we're thrilled to show that off to all that come to visit during this event."
Anywhere from 38,000 to 70,000 bowlers could come through Syracuse during the 107-day run of the open championships, which begins March 24.