Roll Land Suffers $100,000 Fire-This Day In Norwood History-March 1, 1962

Norwood Bowladrome Burns, Hub Has Two Fires, Lawrence One

Firemen battled a general alarm blaze in a bowladrome at daybreak today shortly after five alarms were sounded for two in-town Boston fires. The Norwood fire was the most spectacular of a series of blazes in the Eastern Massachusetts area.

Roll-Land Bowladrome on Rte. 1, the Providence Highway, in Norwood, was blazing furiously when an alarm was sent in at 5:38 a.m.

At the Norwood fire, Deputy Fire Chief Irving Dobson sounded three alarms but the massed apparatus could not save the huge one-story wooden structure.

According to Chief Dobson, who talked with the Santoro brothers of Norwood, owners of the building, the loss was estimated at $100,000.

“The place is a goner,” a fire captain said after the blaze swept along the roof.

The fire started in the basement housing the alleys and was moving into the first-floor skating rink when spotted by a motorist.

Thu, Mar 1, 1962 – The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts)

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