Wow 70 lanes. The place must be awsome. It must
have a fantastic atmosphere when all the lanes
are in use. Down here in western australia we
have several centres with 24 lanes. That's as
large as we go.

Hammerfan, what CB didn't tell you is that the lanes are upstairs in the building.  The Stadium and attached parking deck covers a city block in the middle of downtown Reno, and the Casino Row is just a short block away.  In fact, most (not all, but most) of the Reno casinos are within walking distance of the Stadium.  Plus, the building is located at 300 Center Street.  It's definitely a neat place, with theater style seating above the first 40 lanes or so.

Since you're from Australia, one thing that you might notice is the altitude at Reno.  Even though the city is down in a bowl (ringed by mountains all the way around), it is still some 4500 feet above sea level....you can tell that the air is thinner there.  When you get up in the Sierra Mountains on the west side of town (actually along the west side of Lake Tahoe), you get up to about 7200 feet above sea level in places.

Mumzie, I always wondered what happened to lanes 79 and 80.  I recall all of the big hype before the Stadium opened, and it was claimed to be an 80 lane house.  Then, when I got there for the '95 ABC Nats, I only found 78 lanes out on the floor, and of course lane 79 up in the Pro Shop.  I had always wondered where the other 2 lanes had disappeared to during the construction phase, but I never knew the inside scoop.

Yep, I seem to recall that the original price tag was supposed to be $30 million to build the Stadium, and I seem to recall that the costs ran over $35 million to finish up what they did (without completing part of the upstairs area of the building).  The city of Reno funded the project, with the citizens expecting to recoup the investment within a 15 year period (through profits from the bowling tournaments and tourism).  And in recent years, the "full time" use of the building has been in some question, since it sits idle during a significant part of each year.  I know that there has been talk of putting in temporary flooring above the lane beds for concerts, etc., but I don't think that any of that has happened as of yet.  The original contract between the Stadium and the ABC/WIBC was for 15 years, and I believe that the ABC is willing to extend their committment beyond that period (since they get the biggest turnout for the ABC Nats when it is held in Reno).  Yep, the future of the Stadium is somewhat uncertain at this point.....I hope that they continue to utilize it for what it was initially designed for, and that's bowling tournaments.

I'm not sure if it would be feasible to open up the Stadium for league competition or not.  With the costs to operate such a large facility, it might cost more to run than the league revenues would bring in.  And, league bowling at the Stadium would put the hurt on other local houses such as the Reno Hilton Lanes.  In fact, the Hilton used to host quite a few tournaments before the Stadium opened up in '95, but I can't think of many (or any) bowled there since the Stadium went into business.