WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – The city that gave birth to the uniquely New England activity of candlepin bowling, and where candlepin alleys were once as common as convenience stores, is down to its last alley.

“I’m still here,” said Nicholas E. Andreson, 74, owner of the 24-lane Colonial Bowling Centre on Mill Street in Worcester. “The dot-coms are gone, but I’m still here.”

Candlepin bowling, with its small ball, straight pins and three rolls per frame, was invented in Worcester in 1880. Andreson, the son of Greek immigrants, became involved with the game not because of a passion for it, but because he saw a business opportunity, according to the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester.

Heeding the advice of his father, who told him to own his own business so he could control his destiny, Andreson opened after automatic pinsetters greatly reduced labor costs and sped up the game, prompting a bowling alley boom in the late 1950s.

Andreson opted for candlepin, though most of the new alleys being built at the time were tenpin, even in the central Massachusetts hotbed of candlepin.

“I didn’t believe that candlepin was through,” Andreson told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester. “All the leagues in Worcester were candlepin. It was invented here. I thought it would survive.”

The Bowl-Mor pinsetter Andreson installed at Colonial in 1959 is still collecting the 16-inch-high, 3-inch-wide pins. A three-point Brunswick crown still gleams at bowlers from the back of the lanes. Pleated wood curtains still drape the windows.

The small, round tables in the lobby are the ones delivered for the opening in 1960.

“If retro is in,” said Andreson’s wife, Anasatasia, “we must be all the rage.”

The Colonial Bowling Centre opened Saturday, March 19, 1960.

“The doors opened that morning at 9 but kids were already lining up at 8:30,” Andreson said. “Every lane was busy until 12:30 the next morning. I pumped out 2,000 strings. It was an auspicious start.”

Andreson did not suffer loiterers, loudmouths, the vulgar or those who came to ogle the girls.

“It was a bowling alley. Women felt comfortable coming here and parents knew they could leave their kids and not worry about them,” his wife said.

At its peak, the Colonial hosted 40 leagues. The lanes were occupied from morning to midnight. Non-league bowlers had to wait two hours for an open lane.

But in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the industries that filled the leagues began to shrink or close. The number of leagues dwindled as did the number of teams per league.

Competition for the family entertainment dollar exploded. Bowling became unhip. Memberships in fraternal clubs and associations declined.

“You can’t get anybody to commit these days,” Andreson said.

Andreson said he’s healthy and still enjoys working at the Colonial, so the future of the city’s last candlepin alley seems secure for the time being.

“Things come around,” he said. “Will bowling come back the way it was? Probably not, but I’m still making money. I’m still here. The place is clean and candlepin bowling is still fun.”