Several people bought pins, shoes and bowling balls and some have bought lanes.

The final ball was bowled last night.

Machinery and other fittings will be removed this week.

Business owners Niaomi and Mel Chettleburgh closed the venue which had operated for more than half a century.

For Andrew Craig, whose name hung proudly atop a list of high scorers, it was a sad occasion.

“It’s the end of an era,” he said.

“There are a lot of people here that we’ve grown up with, there are kids who turn into adults and then you see their kids.

“There are a lot of good memories in this place, but it’s just the way it is.

“I’ve come in today to say goodbye.”

Mr Craig bowled two perfect games of 300 at the centre, one of only three people to do so.

Mat Chettleburgh said it would feel strange not to have the venue.

“It’s been my life,” he said.

“I don’t know anything different to this place.

“It’s been a lot of fun, but there were also a lot of hard times.”

Di Ryan, 58, started playing at the centre while in high school and said the glory days of the sport were in the 1980s and 1990s.

“It’s a sad day,” she said.

Mrs Chettleburgh, whose family has run the venue for 11 years, said it had been losing money.

“I just want out,” she said.

Many bowlers will join Twin Cities Tenpin Bowl in Wodonga.