West-Port Bowling Lanes at 135 Main Street had 24 candlepin lanes. Scores were kept by hand on paper. There were no computers and no website, only a Facebook page and a phone number. It ran women's, men's and mixed leagues plus tournaments. That description comes from a Maine Agenda guide to Greater Portland bowling leagues published August 15, 2026, about six weeks before the alley closed.
The Portland Press Herald reported that the alley would close at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 25, after 64 years. The paper also reported that it had "barely changed, if at all" in that time. Westbrook still has candlepin lanes inside city limits. What it no longer has is a public candlepin house where you can call ahead, show up on a weeknight and bowl. That part of the town's routine has moved to Route 1 in Scarborough, and at least one league took West-Port's name with it.
Why the lanes on Main Street went quiet
The family that ran West-Port explained the closing in mechanical terms. Selena Pelletier works at the alley and is the daughter of longtime manager Pam Lavalliere. She told News Center Maine that "it's hard with the machines being so old and not being able to find pieces like you were able to before." In the same report she called it "our family house."
Lavalliere managed the alley for nearly two decades. She described its sound to News Center Maine as "the laughter," "the pins go down," and the "'Oh that should've gone down!'" Rick Coggins has been a familiar face at the alley for 30 years. He told the station that "this bowling alley hasn't changed since I was a kid," and that his mother and grandmother bowled in leagues there.
The closing matters beyond Main Street. News Center Maine, citing the International Candlepin Bowling Association, reported that Maine now has eleven open candlepin alleys. The association's own Maine page still reads "12 Centers 186 Lanes" and still lists West-Port, so the published count trails the actual one by a single alley. Nothing about the future of the building at 135 Main Street has been announced. The family told News Center Maine only that the building "may eventually be gone."
Eleven days later, the West-Port Warriors started bowling in Scarborough
On Tuesday, October 6, 2026, a league called the West-Port Warriors bowled its first week at Big 20 Bowling Center, 382 US Route 1 in Scarborough. It bowls Tuesdays at 11 a.m., according to its league dashboard. Big 20's own fall 2026–2027 league page lists the Warriors on Tuesdays alongside Cape Clippers, Rise and Shine Ladies, Seniors and Tuesday Speed. No public source says West-Port's whole roster moved over. Even so, eleven days after the Main Street lanes closed, a candlepin league carrying the alley's name was on Big 20's lanes.
The move makes sense when you look at what Big 20 is. The building has 20 candlepin lanes on a site that has had an alley since 1950, when it was called State O' Maine, and the old sign is still up. The Maine Agenda guide counts roughly eighteen leagues there and notes that it hosts state championship play. The fall 2026–2027 list covers every day of the week.
- Monday: Monday Afternoon Mixed, Commercial Men's
- Tuesday: Cape Clippers, Rise and Shine Ladies, West-Port Warriors, Seniors, Tuesday Speed
- Wednesday: Kitchen Crackers 4, Wednesday Night Mixed
- Thursday: Purpoodock Ladies, Thursday Afternoon Trios, Unum, Thursday Night Mixed, Maine Senior Games
- Friday: Suburbanites, Golfers
- Saturday: Bumper Buddies, Youth Juniors, Youth Seniors
- Sunday: Sunday Night Doubles, You Decide Fall/Winter, You Decide Adult/Youth
West-Port had to be reached by phone. Big 20 posts its terms online. Its league sign-up form has an "Individual or Team?" choice, so a former West-Port bowler without a full team can still ask for a league spot. For open bowling, the Big 20 site lists $4.75 per string per person plus $3 for shoes, an hourly rate of $33.50 after 6 p.m., and Rock N' Bowl on Friday and Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. for $15 a person with shoes included. The posted hours change by day. Tuesday runs 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday splits into 10 a.m. to noon and 4 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday is just 4 to 7 p.m. On league nights, a call ahead is the easiest way to find an open lane. The kitchen serves burgers, nachos, pizza, beer and wine, and fresh-dough pizza and sandwiches on request.
The candlepin lanes still in Westbrook run on a reservation model
Candlepin hasn't left Westbrook entirely. 33 Elmwood, at 33 Elmwood Avenue, has candlepin and tenpin lanes under one roof. The Maine Agenda guide counts it as one of only three places in Maine with both. The building has bowling history of its own. When the venue opened in 2016, WGME reported that the site had been a flea market and, before that, a bowling alley for more than 30 years.
It works very differently from West-Port. 33 Elmwood describes itself as an event rental space for weddings, corporate events and private gatherings. It has candlepin and tenpin lanes, billiards, cornhole and seasonal bocce in 24,000 square feet. According to its reservation FAQ, it is private-events-only with occasional public openings, which it announces on social media. Bowling can't be booked on its own. The August Maine Agenda guide says it opens to the public about twice a month and found no adult league there. This month the venue is promoting a Halloween party package for October 26 through 30, from noon to 9 p.m., with bowling or other games, food and bar access. That is a booking for a group, not open bowling.
That explains why a league named for a Main Street alley went to Scarborough. Westbrook's only remaining candlepin lanes are built for booked parties. A standing Tuesday league needs a public house with a weekly schedule.
| West-Port Bowling Lanes | Big 20 Bowling Center | 33 Elmwood | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 135 Main Street, Westbrook | 382 US Route 1, Scarborough | 33 Elmwood Avenue, Westbrook |
| Lanes | 24 candlepin | 20 candlepin | Candlepin and tenpin |
| Status, October 2026 | Closed September 25, 2026 | Open, fall 2026–2027 leagues running | Private events, occasional public openings |
| How you got in | Phone or Facebook | Posted hours, online league sign-up | Event booking; bowling not booked alone |
| Leagues | Women's, men's, mixed | Leagues every day of the week, including West-Port Warriors | None found as of August 2026 |
If the night out doesn't have to be candlepin
Tenpin has more public options nearby, and one of them starts this week. The details below come from the Maine Agenda's August 15, 2026 reading of each venue's pages.
- Spare Time Portland, 867 Riverside Street, used to be Yankee Lanes. Its fall schedule includes a Six Week Social that starts Tuesday, October 13, at 6 p.m. and costs six dollars a week for six weeks. Solo bowlers can sign up and get placed on a team.
- Bayside Bowl, 58 Alder Street in Portland, has 20 tenpin lanes. As of August its long-running BoPo league was listed at capacity, and the Casco Bay Sports league was the option for people signing up alone.
- Round1 Bowling & Arcade, 364 Maine Mall Road in South Portland, posts its bowling hours daily.
- Broadway Bowl, 725 Broadway in South Portland, closed permanently on May 17, 2026, but it still turns up in some older guides.
West-Port is the second Greater Portland bowling house to close in 2026, after Broadway Bowl in May. As of October 2026, the walk-in candlepin closest to downtown Westbrook is Big 20 in Scarborough, with an 11 a.m. Tuesday league named for the alley that closed.
The Lauren Jones Team follows Westbrook's local businesses, from Main Street to Route 1, because they shape what daily life in town looks like. If you'd like to know where your Westbrook home stands this fall, request a home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
