Urban Spelunking is brought to you by Nicolet Law.
There was a time, not all that long ago, when Milwaukee was home to dozens of bowling houses. When I was the bowling writer at the Milwaukee Sentinel (yes, it’s true, be very jealous) as the ‘80s faded and the ‘90s dawned, there were big bowling centers out on 27th Street and tiny two-lane basement bowls, and pretty much everything in between.
These days, you can find pretty much every bowling center on a single page of Google results.
But traces of some of those extinct places remain, like remnants of the Marble Arcade in Walker’s Point’s Braise restaurant, for example.
And, you can still see – in situ – the eight lanes that were once alive with the thump and roll of the ball, the clatter of the pins and the chatter of the kegelers (as bowlers have sometimes been affectionately known, in reference to a German variant of the game) at the former Blue Jay Lanes, 4177 S. Howell Ave., now home to Hawthorne Coffee Roasters.
Stop over at Hawthorne and marvel at the space age Midcentury entrance, patterned brick and former bowling alley entrance with its Vitrolite panels and doors with porthole windows.
Then check out the the interior with its moderne entrance and a ceiling that looks like it’s right out of a vintage movie palace. After that, grab some of the area’s best coffee and a bakery item made on-site, and head into the back room.
Here you will find the lanes. Note that the gutters appear to survive, though they’ve been covered up. This is the front end of the lanes and you can see the area where the bowlers would sit to keep score and await their turns.
The lanes actually continue further back to the west end of the building, under the current kitchen. At the back is the space – which you enter through a tiny door – where the pinsetters originally held court, before being replaced by automated pinsetting machines.
“What I would like to do actually is uncover the gutters and fill them up with the bowling balls and put plexiglass over it,” says Steve Hawthorne, who owns the business – but not the building – with his wife Kendra Barron.
But, says Hawthorne, who lives nearby, when he first saw the place he didn’t even realize there were lanes inside.
Those lanes date to when the building was constructed in 1947 for John and Helen Janczak, who had a bar on the southeast corner of South 5th Place and Hayes Avenue.
The distinctive look of the place, with its entry feature that sort of recalls one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s roof supports at Racine’s SJ Johnson and Co., is the work of architect Francis John Hinton.
The architect
Hinton was born John Frances Hinterreiter in Milwaukee in 1897 to 26-year-old carpenter Wenzel (Wenzes) Hinterreiter and 25-year-old Maria Pawelka, who were living on 15th and Cherry with their 2-year-old daughter Mary.
The Hinterreiters had come to Milwaukee from Adams Freheit, in Bohemia, Austria, in 1897, sometime before the boy’s birth that May.
By 1910, Wenzel was working as a brushmaker and there were four more children at home.
When he registered for the draft in June 1918, John Francis was now Francis John Hinterreiter and he was working as a surveyor at Rauschulte & Webster, which had its offices in the M&I Bank building on Water Street.
However, soon after, Hinterreiter – and at least one of his brothers – changed the surname to Hinton, perhaps due to the same anti-German sentiment during World War I that led to the shuttering of many German language newspapers in the city.
By 1920, Hinton had taken a job as a stenographer in a Manitowoc shipyard and was a roomer – along with a shipyard laborer – in the home of Harry and Rae Kamschutte.
As 42-year-old Harry Kamschutte was an architect with his own practice it’s intriguing to think that he may have nudged Hinton toward architecture, if not instructing the young man – whose formal education appears to have ended at 8th grade – in the basics of the profession himself.
How long Hinton remained in Manitowoc we don’t know but the 1930 census suggests he was back in Milwaukee living with his parents and working as a residential contractor, though surely he had returned earlier and was already doing some architectural work.
We know this because in 1928 he designed a home on North 74th Street in Wauwatosa that would become his home after he married Luella Edna Bessie Leverenz in Dane, Wisconsin, in 1933.
By 1940, Hinton is an architect and operating the Hinton Building Co., which may have also employed his brother Anthony, who was a plumber.
Over time, Hinton would come to be known for his Midcentury Modern work and among his projects were The Empire Building, 1041 E. Knapp St.; the Mid-City Shopping Center, 1235 N. 35th St.; Park Ridge Apartments, 1653 N. Prospect Ave.; Prospect Heights Apartments,1646 N. Prospect Ave.; River Woods Apartments, Dousman and Randolph Court; Shoreland Manor, 1029 E. Knapp St.; River Bend Shopping Center; and St. Catherine Residence/Martinique Apartments, 1032 E. Knapp St.
The fact that some of his work, including the Hawthorne building, are so distinctively stylized is interesting in light of this 1939 Milwaukee Journal mention of Hinton’s own 74th Street house:
“Appearances are sometimes deceiving. This duplex isn’t one of the latest crop of houses, but is predepression by a year. It was built in 1928. The enduring value of good architecture is well illustrated by this colonial style structure which was designed 11 years year ago by Francis J Hinton, architect.
“The flat, which cleverly hides the fact that it is a duplex, is just as much in style now as when it was built a decade ago in the time tried colonial style. Throughout Milwaukee are hundreds of duplexes that were built about the same time, but most of them ‘date’ as much as an automobile or a milady’s hat of that period. They looked attractive when brand new and were ‘in the swim’ for a few years, but with changing styles in building they quickly lost value on the architectural side, although just as well built as the Hinton duplex.
“Architects constantly warn clients again ‘fads’ in building. Most buildings can be expected to stand 75 or 100 years. Hence a style factor is vert important.”
But perhaps distinctive is what his clients wanted for their new business in the Town of Lake in 1947.
Blue Jay Days
John and Helen Janczak were anything but new to the hospitality game when they built their new place, having operated the tavern (and “soft drink parlor” during Prohibition) at 2400 S. 5th Pl. since 1924, likely also serving food, as some uninspected meat found in the basement led a health inspector to levy a fine.
The Polish-born Janczaks perhaps partnered with their daughter Irene and her husband Roman Cieszynski on the new building.
In 1940, the Cieszynskis (their name was later Americanized to Chase) were living with the Janczaks on 5th Place and the 1946 permit for the Howell building bears the Roman’s name and the Quincy Avenue address the two couples now shared.
What’s interesting about the name of their new place, Club Blue Jay, is that John Janczak was an avid bird man. In fact, nearly a decade earlier, Janczak’s “team” of four birds won first prize at an oriole show in Chicago and advanced to the nationals in St. Louis. At that time, one newspaper reported, Janczak kept about 100 birds – who “drank only well water, with an occasional drop of iodine” – in his attic.
Perhaps blue jays were a later obsession.
On March 6, 1946, a real estate classified ad offered the 5th Place building – $4,000! – for sale and six days later, Roman pulled the permit to construct the new place.
By July 1947, the pins were flying at Club Blue Jay – where above the main entrance there was a giant depiction of the avian namesake – and, not long after, the old place had been sold and reopened as Sunrise Tap.
The Janczaks hosted a grand opening celebration at Club Blue Jay on Sept. 2.
“Johnny Janczak is new to the bowling game (or vice versa) but he’s doing okay at the new Club Blue Jay Alleys, 4177 S. Howell,” wrote the Milwaukee Sentinel in December ‘47. “Dropped in to see the place this week and was pleasantly surprised. He has eight new drives, locker space, a cozy cocktail lounge and everything to make the bowlers comfortable.
“John opened last July and has six leagues bowling Monday through Fridays. Sixteen-team loops include the Blue Jay 800 and 850, Bay View Post of the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary while the Mitchell Field and Blue Jay Ladies circuits boast eight teams each.
“Here’s hoping things go well for his Town of Lake enterprise. One thing is certain – he hasn’t any competition in the immediate neighborhood and as long as he gives bowlers the best he’ll have no trouble.”
In addition to cocktails and bowling, Club Blue Jay also had, “sandwiches available at all times.”
Johnny, however, was perhaps only there to get things going for his daughter and son-in-law, because by 1949, he and Helen had semi-retired and the Chase family stepped in, along with the Janczak’s son, Casey, to help run the show.
A 1950 ad suggested changes were made.
“Beautiful new Club Blue Jay. 8 sparkling bowling lanes. New policy starting this week: music, dancing and entertainment every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, featuring George Criston and his Orchestra, they recently finished their second successful year aboad the SS Milwaukee Clipper.”
In 1951 the entertainment included Hal Kaiser and His Orchestra, formerly of the Flamingo in Las Vegas and “The Gay 90’s,” Bing and His Aloha Serenaders featuring Tina, exotic interpretation of the Hula, Ralph Kane and His Trio, “the exotic Lee Darrin” and Mickey Grab and His Pantomimes.
Maybe someone even played the old organ that still sits in the space.
That May, a proper dining room was opened.
An October 1952 newspaper blurb suggested that the Janczaks had not completely retired.
“Club Blue Jay is open again,” wrote the Sentinel. “A word from Casey, that personable young man who helps his father at John Janczak’s Club Blue Jay ... their dining room is open again after the summer vacation and is under the management of Ruby Waraksa, a well known downtown chef. Casey’s father is an old timer in Milwaukee having started in the bar and restaurant business 27 years ago.”
Waraksa must not have worked out long-term because in 1956, the family sublet part of the space to Pepi’s Pizza for an outpost of its popular 16th and Scott location, and that new pizzeria endured into the 1970s, when it was replaced for a time by Scardina’s Pizza.
In 1961, the name of the place was changed to Blue Jay Bowl and by the 1980s it sometimes called itself that and sometime Blue Jay Lanes.
Two years later, Helen passed away after a stroke at the age of 66 and soon after, the Chase’s son Bob was running the business, too.
As bowling began to fade, many local centers closed and Blue Jay was not immune to the effects. It closed in the waning days of 1997.
Johnny Janczak did not live to see that day. He died in 1989 at the age of 96.
What came next
After Blue Jay closed, a number of places came and went on none of them used the bowling alleys.
In 1998, Dinero’s Swing Club opened, with a focus on the swing dancing craze that was everywhere at the time. While the club occasionally had live music, it more typically piped in jump blues and swing band sounds for dancers.
Like the fad that inspired it, Dinero’s didn’t last long and by 2001 Daddio’s was not only open but already deeply embroiled in a feud with neighbors and the district alderman that had twice led the city to try and close the place down after complaints about noise, fights, public urination, littering and other hassles.
Like Dinero’s, Daddio’s didn’t last very long – though its sign survives in a back room at Hawthorne.
By 2004, Blast from the Past – a resale shop with vintage clothing, antique furniture and other items – had relocated to the space from its previous location at 58th and Forest Home Avenue, and staying for a few years.
Perhaps the most unusual – and short-lived – resident of the building was the “Pirate fusion” rrestaurant called Shiver Me Timbers, which appears to have opened in March or April of 2008 and closed by June.
In August, owners Valerie Keller and chef “Dante,” opened a new place called Four Seasons, serving Caribbean and Southern dishes. It’s unclear whether or not this restaurant even lasted for a full four seasons.
By 2010 it had been replaced by the country-themed Rodeo Bar, which hosted live music and painted a mural of country stars on one of the walls. Like, Blast from the Past, Rodeo Bar lasted a few years before it, too, faded into history, its mural painted over by Hawthorne when he and Barron arrived in November 2015.
The Hawthorne era
After working for many years in bars, coffee shops and other hospitality establishments, Steve Hawthorne started roasting coffee on the side at a small location in West Allis.
“West Allis was just convenient when we first started,” he recalls. “I had a business partner and he lived in Tosa. I was actually working at Rocket Baby at the time, too, so it kind of worked out. I could zip over there and do stuff after work.”
Hawthorne Coffee was roasting beans and selling them at farmers markets and then picked up a good wholesale account that changed everything for Hawthorne, who still had his day job at Rocket Baby Bakery.
“We were in the early stages. I had to do something because I wasn't sure how quickly this was going to do anything. I had two kids, the third was on the way at the time. We were doing the market scene on the weekend, and then Joe Sorge from Holy Moly, called me up one day and say, ‘Hey, I'm opening up this donut shop and we want to have a different coffee that no one else has. Are you interested?’
“He put me in there and all their other restaurants, and that was just the nudge I needed to be able to quit and go full-time.”
That meant more space was needed – West Allis had about 800 square feet – and so Hawthorne began looking for something a little closer to his home in Tippecanoe.
“I live eight blocks from here,” he recalls, “and it had been sitting empty and I drove past it every day going home. I ended up calling the Alderman at the time and just said, ‘Hey, what's the story in this building? Can you put me in touch with somebody?’
“He got me in touch with the owner and I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing? You want to sell it? Rent it? What's your plan here?’ And he's like, ‘Well, I don't really know. So I met him here. It was in rough shape, and so we worked at a deal. We weren't ready to buy anything, but we just said, ‘OK, we'll rent it out.’ I think I paid a hundred bucks a month for the first six months I was here, just to get things going.”
And they’ve been here ever since, cleaning out tons of junk and making some changes to the space, including painting, changing the light fixtures to LEDs, etc.
A couple months after opening, Aaron Patin sublet some space for his Iron Grate BBQ for a little while – conjuring the deal that put a Pepi’s Pizza inside Blue Jay Lanes – and after he moved up the block, Hawthorne and Barron rented out the kitchen to some food truck operators. Foxfire also did what Hawthorne calls “a permanent residency” in the building for a few years, too.
Now, it’s all Hawthorne and the place appears to be doing well. But it wasn’t always so.
“When first came in, we had kind of a double whammy,” Hawthorne says. “The building needed to be worked on. So we started, and as we were coming up to maybe three or four months in, they ripped up Howell Avenue to do a major construction project, and it was going to be torn up for eight months. And so I was like, ‘there's no way anyone's coming in.’ So fortunately, our rent was still reasonable and the farmer's markets were going pretty well.
“So we were roasting but there was no point in trying to open when no one’s going to be coming in.”
But when they opened the doors, people began to come.
“My roaster at the time could do three pounds per batch. And so I was sitting and cranking away. I’d roast it as fast as I can. There were days when people would be waiting and I'd walk out with nine pounds I had just done over the last hour, and people would just be taking pounds out of my hands before I could get up to the counter to stock the shelf.
“It was like, all right, well this is a good sign. We ended up getting a bigger roaster and that problem went away. Now, we're doing all of our own baking and doing grab and go style sandwiches and it's all made here.”
Now, anyone can stop in and enjoy coffee and a bite at a table on one of the old Club Blue Jay bowling lanes.
Every now and then, someone spots the arrow-shaped marks inlaid into the former alleys and pretends to roll a frame.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
