The five-alarm blaze that swept through the second-story Arcade Lanes in University City, a St. Louis suburb, on Thursday night left in ruin the quaint, eight-alley place the widower said he has owned since the late 1950s.
At 78, Lampson wept as if losing a cherished friend.
``At my old age, everybody wonders why I work,'' Lampson said during the blaze that took a few dozen firefighters about three hours to control. ``I only wanted to work to keep the history of Arcade bowling going.''
Lampson and another man he was teaching to bowl managed to escape unharmed before the flames took over.
Fire Chief Bob Metcalf said officials hoped to inspect the rubble Friday to pinpoint the fire's cause, which Lampson _ a retired electrician _ suspects was an electrical problem in a storeroom.
The building had been a walk-up bowling alley since the 1940s. Lampson said all four of his daughters were married at the place where, by Lampson's account, more than 300 perfect games have been bowled on the lanes he was said to oil with a pump-style bug sprayer.
On Thursday night, Lampson could only watch as flames consumed his life's work _ and the bevy collectibles he someday hoped to pass down to his grandchildren.
``I'm just glad he's out,'' said Liz Pursley, one of Lampson's daughters.
