I doubt it was a sprinkler head. Most places that use sprinkler systems where water damage would be a problem us a dry system that only charges when the system is armed from the alarm panel to prevent accidental discharge like this. However, with the fact that it came out black and dirty at first it may have been a sprinkler pipe. In older buildings they may have not retrofitted to a dry system. Lastly if it was not a sprinkler system what moron designed a bowling alley with water pipes over the lanes. Thats just asking for this type of problem.
Based on the color scheme I would say it was a Brunwick center. The ball returns are definatly Brunswick so that rules out AMF
