Grand Central

When Portland's Grand Central Bowl recently reopened after a two-year, $14-million renovation, it had a new name, a radically different mission and a growing amount of company at the high end of the bowling business nationwide.

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Something old is new again in Portland. After a hefty historic renovation effort, the Grand Central Building at Southeast Eighth Avenue and Morrison Street is opening to the public.

A restaurant-and-bowling-lounge combo business serves as the building’s main tenant, occupying 22,000 square feet – about 50 percent – of the building. As part of the historic preservation of the building, interior wood was reused in the renovation, including original bowling lanes that found new life as the tops of bar areas.

Nine retail tenants fill up the rest of the building, which takes up an entire city block and features underground parking.

It took two sets of developers, nearly a year of chasing permits, and much sweet-talking of skeptical bankers, but the project to redevelop the former Grand Central Bowl in inner Southeast Portland has finally begun.

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