1959 - newspaper advertisement for the grand opening of Palm Springs Lanes on March 1st
750 W. 49th Street (Palm Springs Mile), Hialeah, Florida
Thank you to Bruce Hirsh for contributing this image from The Miami News archives. Mayor Henry Milander, long-time mayor of Hialeah, rolled the first ball down the alley at the dedication of the bowling alley.
Jim Facente Sr was the managing partner for Palm Springs Lanes. The partners included R&RBuilders who developed Palm Springs Mile. Jim’s wife Toni was a mainstay at Palm Springs Lanes along with Frieda and Carl Johnson. Billy Hardwick never owned any part of Palm Springs Lanes and never lived in Florida.
Joe
03-Apr-2020 00:57
Chris Hardwick's dad (Billy Hardwick) NEVER owned Palm Springs Lanes!! Billy Hardwick married Jim Facente's daughter Sharon and that is the only connection. Billy later divorced and opened a Bowling Center in Tennessee. He Passed away....:-(
Mike
29-Mar-2016 14:41
Jim Facente Sr managed the lanes from day one along with his wife Tony. They had two children, Jim Jr and Sharon. Jim Jr also managed Palm Springs Lanes, went on to run his father's other bowling alley Carol City Lanes and then he built and opened Trail Bowl on SW 8th St and 97th Avenue. Sharon wound up marrying Billy Hardwick, a Hall of Fame professional bowler. Chris Hardwick was their son.
Thank you for your informative comments regarding Chris Hardwick's dad owning this fine establishment but in what time period did he own it? It is my understanding from way back in the 1960's that the Facente family owned Palm Springs Lanes. Did they sell to Chris Hardwick's father after 1965 or did Mr. Hardwick own it for the entire existence of the bowling alley and maybe the Facentes only managed it for him? Any assistance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Don .
Richard C.
02-Jul-2015 17:58
Hello there. I had joined this site years ago and actually contributed to Old Memories of Hialeah section. Anyway, something to add on this particular section of Palm Springs Lanes. Well, it turns out Chris Hardwick's father was in fact the owner of this establishment. Who is Chris Hardwick? He is the host the "Talking Dead" which comes on immediately after all the episodes of "The Walking Dead". You may recognize him from this. He also has a VERY successful weekly podcast called The Nerdist Podcast. It was listening to his latest episode that I learned all this information. Anyway, perhaps no life changing but an interesting anecdote never the less.