Owner posts obituary for Michigan bowling alley closed by pandemic: ‘She is dying slowly’

The owner of a Michigan bowling alley has drawn attention after sharing an “obituary” for his business on social media, saying he feared it was dying due to its closure in compliance with local COVID-19 restrictions.

Steven Klein, the owner of Vision Lanes bowling alley, posted to Facebook about the decline of his business that has shut its doors for more than 200 days, local media reported.

“She is barely conscious. She is dying slowly. My baby that I have nursed from birth, called Vision Lanes is in jeopardy,” Klein wrote in the post.

Klein and his wife opened the bowling alley nearly 17 years ago. Klein said that it has become like a loved one to his family, according to a local CBS affiliate.

“It was like my wife and I were seeing my daughter die, and my daughters were watching one of their sister’s die, because they are as invested as myself and my wife,” Klein told the outlet.

Following the Facebook post, local community members came together to create a GoFundMe page for Klein’s business, calling on patrons to “be there for them like they’ve always been there for all of us.”

The page has raised more than $10,000 toward a $25,000 goal.

“I was totally shocked and humbled and overwhelmed. It was nice to see that the bowlers didn’t forget about us and I was just overwhelmed,” Klein said.

The bowling lanes are still closed; however, the restaurant area of the business has remained open, providing takeout orders to customers, CBS News 21 reported.