After a short time of an uncertain future, Selma’s only bowling center is beginning “to pick up,” said Wesley Kelly, an owner of Playland Bowl.

“We’ve got summer leagues going on right now,” Kelly said. “We expect to have more people when school starts.”

Kelly and two partners bought the wooden 24-lane entertainment center in 2004 and had tried to sell the facility on a lease-purchase plan. The attempts, however, did not pan out.

Kelly, who averages about 208 a game, said he and his partners are glad Playland Bowl has survived the difficult economic times.

“For Selma, it’s good to have such a large facility,” he said. “We just enjoy bowling, the three of us. We all loved bowling.”

Marjorie Gibbs, who helps oversee the lanes during the week, said two leagues are in action during the summer.

“We have a mixed league that bowls on Thursdays,” she said, adding each of the eight teams of three bowlers must have at least one woman. “Then we have a ‘fun league’ each Wednesday that has a lot of beginning bowlers.”

Playland Bowl has been the site of a doubles tournament during the past two months, Kelly said.

“We have had a lot of people all over the state bowl in that tournament,” he said.

Gibbs said the tournament is held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

“It’s not anything that’s scheduled,” she said. “They just bowl whenever they can get the lanes.”

The eighth annual Summertime Doubles tournament is held every weekend in July. Bowling starts at noon and can start as late at 6 p.m.

The first-place team will win $4,000 based on 300 entries.

For information on the tournament, call Playland Bowl at 875-3010.