A new option for young people looking for things to do in Perry has appeared on the horizon in the form of Perry-Area Christian Events (PACE), a new venture at 1000 26th St. in Perry in the former Stardust Lanes building.
Nathan Leerhoff of Perry, owner and operator of PACE, explained its mission his purpose in opening a new entertainment venue.
“Mainly our focus is for youth, for teens and highschoolers and what not,” the ADM graduate said. “We’d like to keep admission at no charge. That’s our goal. When we open in the evenings for the kids to come in for activities and stuff, they’ll be no charge. We hope to make enough money off the food to keep it free admission. That way, everybody can come. in free. We’ll also rent the space out for parties and stuff.”
The three unites were formerly a bar, a small events center and a bowling alley, Leerhoff said, “and we’re actually going to open that all up and make it into a lounge area with pool tables and games and stuff like that on the one side. In the middle will be an events center that we’ll open up so it will be bigger. It should have about 1,000 capacity. And then we’re going to open the bowling alley back up again.”
Fundraising for the remodeling effort will be ongoing, Leerhoff said.
“The roof alone will cost $30,000,” he said. “We’re also going to remove a couple of walls and open that space up, and we’ll kind of clean the kitchen up and redo the floors.”
The new sign for PACE was hung last week, and the center had a soft opening on Aug. 1, Leerhoff said, when a couple of Christian rappers came to perform. The “unveiling party,” as he called it , gave people a chance to see the new floorplan and then stay for the free show.
The game room and events center opened first, while work continues on the bowling alley.
“There’s only one or two lanes working right now,” Leerhoff said, “and I don’t want to open it up with only one or two lanes. We’re hoping that by Sept. 1 or Oct. 1 at the latest we’ll have the whole thing opened up again.”
Leerhoff said PACE at present has a four-member board of directors and 15 to 20 volunteers.
“We’re looking to get awareness, get more people on the board and more people volunteering,” he said.
PACE will also participate in the Iowa Highway 141 garage sale this weekend. They have gathered a number of donated items to sell in support of the remodeling effort. He said snacks will be available, and he is also working with caterers who will provide food for the garage-sale event.
