Inside Alleyway Entertainment: Albertville's New Cold-Weather Hangout, Plus What's on the Town Calendar This Fall
About 15 years ago, Sean Griffith got a call asking him to drive to Albertville and see whether it could support a new entertainment center. He told The Sand Mountain Leader what he reported back: "yeah, there's nothing else here. Let's put a center."
The idea took a decade and a half to become a building. Alleyway Entertainment opened on June 20, 2026, at 100 Mathis Mill Road, behind Jack's. Griffith is now its general manager. Since the weather has turned, it's the first indoor place a lot of local families will think of. The more interesting part is how it was built. It looks like a family fun center, but much of the equipment inside is what serious bowlers and golfers use. It also sits right around the corner from Sand Mountain Park, so it serves Albertville families and the teams who come to town for tournaments.
The center of the building is 20 bowling lanes, and their details are worth a look. Griffith told The Sand Mountain Leader that the lanes use string pins, which hang on strings instead of being reset by the old mechanical pinsetters. He said the U.S. Bowling Conference had recently approved string pins for tournament play, and that the setup avoids mechanical breakdowns.
The lane machine connects to the internet and can copy the oil pattern from another bowling center. Oil patterns change how a ball moves down the lane. A team heading to a national tournament can find out which pattern that event will use and practice on the same one in Albertville. Griffith told the Leader that a group of about 16 bowlers tested the lanes before a tournament in Reno, and he set up their pattern for them.
The same lanes have bumpers that go up for children and down for adults, so one family can share a lane. Griffith told the Leader that the lanes will host league play and tournaments, with some kept open for casual bowlers. A screen above the lanes connects to DirecTV and can show 10 football games at once, with couches and bar-height tables for watching. Before the opening, WAFF reported that the center would be home to a new Albertville High School bowling team.
Bowling on Alleyway's website is $35 per lane per hour Sunday through Thursday and Friday until 5 p.m. It goes up to $45 on Friday evenings and all day Saturday, and each lane holds up to six bowlers. With a full lane, a weeknight hour works out to under $6 per person.
The same thinking runs through the rest of the building. Griffith told the Leader that Alleyway's golf simulators come from Full Swing, the company that supplies the TGL golf league, and that they can load any PGA Tour course except Augusta. Here's what's on the floor, with prices where Alleyway lists them online:
| Attraction | What it is | Listed price |
|---|---|---|
| Bowling | 20 lanes, string pins, adjustable bumpers | $35 or $45 per lane, per hour |
| Golf simulators | Full Swing bays, up to eight players taking turns | $50 per bay, per hour |
| Axe throwing | Projected targets on end-grain wood, Velcro axes for kids | $45 per lane, per hour |
| ValoArena | Augmented reality game room, four players at a time | Not listed |
| Laser maze | Two rooms, one with moving beams and one with fixed beams | Not listed |
| Bumper cars | Cars for a child with an adult, plus child-only cars | Not listed |
| Arcade | Redemption games | Not listed |
The axe-throwing targets are an unusual setup. Griffith told the Leader that most venues paint targets on long boards that wear out fast. Alleyway's targets are grids made from the ends of 6x6 timbers, with the scoring images projected onto them. He said spraying them down once an hour lets the wood swell and "heal," which also helps the axe stick. Kids throw Velcro axes at their own targets.
In the ValoArena room, players step into the game on screen. Griffith told the Leader that a 75-year-old woman once knocked him off his spot, and that players can enter an email at the end to get a recording of the game. That's handy for a grandparent or parent who couldn't come along. The bumper cars have inflatable edges instead of the hard rubber rims many adults remember, which Griffith said cuts down on the jolt from each bump.
Griffith described the snack bar to the Leader as "about two levels above fast food and two levels below fine dining." He said the goal is to bring people in for the food alone, even if they don't play anything. On Alleyway's posted menu:
The snack bar has five TVs for watching games. There's a bar too, and at the opening Griffith told the Leader it would have a strict three-beer limit. "It's a family entertainment center," he said.
Weekly specials on the website include Chicken Finger Friday, with three hand-battered tenders and three potato wedges for $8.99. Sport Shot Sunday is $35 per person, has 30 spots, and offers practice on 10 lanes from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For groups there's a one-hour golf "Squad Session" at $40 per bay and a two-hour "Full Field Day" for $67 per bay, which pairs a simulator with ValoArena or bowling. For birthdays, the party page asks that group events be booked ahead and allows a birthday cake with a birthday package, but no other outside food or drinks. The website still shows its "Summer Hours," 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday. Prices and specials don't carry dates, so call 256-388-8200 before a big outing.
Where Alleyway sits is a big part of its plan. Griffith pointed out to the Leader that the center is right around the corner from Sand Mountain Park. He described Alleyway as a place for people who live here and for people "who come in for a tournament or event at the park." If a game gets rained out or a tournament day has a long gap, the next stop is a short drive away.
The park itself has made youth sports cheaper this season. In July, Howard Bentley Buick GMC and Sand Mountain Park & Amphitheater launched Drive to Play. It lowers registration for eligible youth rec sports to $25 per child and keeps Miracle League registration free. Winter Basketball is one of the eight covered sports, and there are no residency requirements. Part of the funding comes from concession sales at the park, so the city's release says every hot dog and drink bought there helps. Registration dates are on Sand Mountain Park's website.
Three other dates this fall add to what's happening on that side of town:
Downtown has its own big night this fall. Turkey & Tinsel on Main, the Albertville Chamber of Commerce's combined Thanksgiving and Christmas parade, rolls through downtown on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The Chamber says it starts with the parade's signature turkey riding in on a fire truck and ends with Santa on the final float, with marching bands and floats from local organizations in between. Anyone can enter for $10, which covers the whole entry no matter how many vehicles you bring. Howard Bentley Buick GMC is the presenting sponsor.
Two weeks before that, High Rock Farm Market holds its Christmas Open House on Thursday, Nov. 5, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Right now, getting from Sand Mountain Park to Main Street means driving. The city has a plan to change that. In August, the Albertville City Council approved a master plan agreement with Goodwyn Mills Cawood to design the Drum Creek Greenway, a future trail corridor paired with restoration work on East Fork Drum Creek. Phase 1 covers 1.7 miles and runs to Sand Mountain Park & Amphitheater. Phase 2 adds 1.5 miles into downtown and links Albertville High School, elementary campuses, the planned public library and the Center on Broad senior center. The long-term plan continues another 9.5 miles north along Short Creek toward Lake Guntersville State Park.
This is still a plan. The city says it will pursue state and federal grants to help pay for construction starting next summer, and that public workshops on trail features will be announced later. When those workshops are scheduled, they'll be a chance for residents to weigh in on what the trail includes.
Owner Don Spurlin told the ribbon-cutting crowd in June, as The Reporter covered it, that he hoped Alleyway "will be a place where people laugh together, have a good time together." The Reporter also explains the name. It comes from "Alleyway," a 1970s song by the Marshall County band WARM, and from Alleyway Records, the Albertville music shop that came after it.
We follow these openings and town plans because they shape everyday life in Albertville, and we live here too. If you'd like to talk about what's changing near Sand Mountain Park or anywhere else around town, Weiss Realty is happy to sit down with you. Contact Us whenever it suits you.
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Albertville, AL 35950