Hillsboro’s Bluejay Bowling Lanes opened for the season at the beginning of September, and has once again received a new update.

A new sound system was hung near the end of the lanes to better project music toward bowlers.

Since 2013, Hillsboro’s development corporation has been hard at work updating the bowling alley, which is open on Fridays and Saturdays.

Tabor College also donated money to the bowling alley so their bowling team could use the facility. Tabor recently discontinued its bowling team.

Hillsboro Development Corporation executive director Clint Seibel is at the bowling alley three to four times during the week, making sure everything is running smoothly, while Kyle Roberts runs it on the weekends.

“It’s pretty amazing to see [the updates],” Seibel said. “This bowling center was started in the 60s, and not much had really been done in remodeling since then. That’s 50 years.”

Updates since 2013 include new bathrooms, electronic score keepers, updated front rooms with booths and a pool table, and lights for cosmic bowling.

Some of the alley remains the same though, giving the bowling alley a retro feel. Orange and cream seating remains the same, as well as the bowling machinery.

“The stuff in the back, they’re just like iron horses, they just keep going,” Seibel said. “If you take care of them, they take care of you.”

The alley is used by groups around the county, including youth groups, church groups, summer camps, and high school and college physical education classes.

Though it is closed during the summer seasons, the alley remains open during the colder seasons to give the community something to do.

“Anything we can do to kind of be of service to the community, that’s what this is about,” Seibel said. “If we can keep it open for the public, that’s what we want to do.”