Dan Stulgis said he was “in utter shock” after receiving news about the fire early Saturday that destroyed the Oak Forest Bowling Center.

Not only a longtime bowler there, he was looking forward to June 1, the start of his 18th season in a Thursday night bean bag league.

“All of the memories and all of the friends I’ve made over the years there came back” after learning of the fire, Stulgis said. “I mean, sorry to seem a bit over dramatic, but a part of me died Saturday morning.”

He and others were mourning the loss of Oak Forest Bowl, 15240 S. Cicero Ave., the cause of which was still under investigation Monday.

Firefighters were dispatched about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, and initial crews on the scene encountered a large volume of fire and smoke, Oak Forest fire Chief Gary Kasper said.

Kasper said a preliminary investigation shows the fire may have started on an exterior wall of the building, but “we do not believe this was an intentional fire.”

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is involved in the investigation and interviews with firefighters who initially responded are also being conducted, Kasper said.

Stulgis started bowling at Oak Forest in 1992.

“So many great memories, and fun and laughter,” Stulgis said. “Oh, my gosh. We’d bowl, play darts after we were done bowling, and we’d close the place up at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

The Tadevich family has owned Oak Forest Bowl since 1997 and also owns and operates Burr Oak Bowl in Blue Island.

The 32-lane Oak Forest Bowl also includes The Park, an outdoor area featuring sand volleyball courts, bean bag courts, patio and fire pit.

The bowling alley had received major improvements recently including new lanes and carpeting. Messages left seeking comment about rebuilding were not returned Monday.

Stulgis said he got to know the Tadevich family well.

“They all were so friendly, and they did such a great job in revitalizing the bowling alley with new carpeting, and new lanes,” he said. “When they added The Park on, that was really something, a big success. There was no other bowling alley that I knew of back then that had that kind of a park attached.”

Jason Wojnar owned Little Bears Pro Shop in Oak Forest Bowl. He’s been there for seven years and has bowled at Oak Forest for nearly 20 years.

“I’ve been in the pro shop business for over 20 years. I had a pretty good bowling career myself,” he said Monday.

On Oct. 14, 2020, Wojnar and his wife, Terysa, both shot 300 games at Oak Forest.

He said he is devastated by the news. He was working at a bowling tournament in New Jersey when he found out.

“All my memorabilia, everything I had, my livelihood was in there. Now I have nothing,” he said. “It’s tough for me to wrap my head around what I’m going home to.”

Karan Scholtens said she played in a monthly league for about 20 years at Oak Forest, and that her two daughters celebrated their birthdays there when they were younger, then waitressed in the Park during summers off from college.

“It’s so sad, it’s such a tragedy,” she said.

She said both she and her husband, Dan, played volleyball at The Park for a number of years, and that it was a great place to hang out and relax after work.

“There’s a big patio and you’d sit out and have appetizers and get a bucket of beers,” she said. “There is a fire pit you can sit around when it got a little chillier in the evenings.”

Scholtens said she learned about the fire Saturday morning from family members, and said she and her husband drove past Sunday.

“I wanted to cry,” she said.

Oak Forest Mayor Hank Kuspa said he will, on occasion, stroll Cicero Avenue to see how businesses are doing, and walked by the bowling center Friday evening, the night before the fire.

“There was not a spot in the parking lot available,” he said. “I was so happy to see it was busy.”

The business was a draw not just for Oak Forest residents, but people from surrounding communities, Kuspa said.

“It was so much more to us than just a bowling alley,” he said. “I hope they will rebuild.”