Braymiller’s Lanes in Hamburg to be demolished after snow caves in roof

HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) — Braymiller’s Lanes has been a staple on Buffalo Street in the Village of Hamburg for 80 years, but that all changed Friday night when the ceiling and walls came caving down around 11 p.m.

Howard Braymiller is the third-generation owner of Braymiller’s Lanes in Hamburg. He woke up Friday night to a phone call that alarms were going off at the bowling alley.

“They said a partial roof collapse and it just slowly got worse and worse. And sadly the building was condemned today and they’re tearing it down asap,” Braymiller told News 4.

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“At first I thought it must be something minor, but unfortunately it was pretty devastating news,” he added.

The roof and walls of that building in the heart of Hamburg caved in under the pressure of lake-effect snow. Braymiller said it’s even more frustrating because the business was thriving after covid kept customers away for more than a year.

Governor Kathy Hochul, who went to school with Braymiller, paid him a visit Saturday to see how she can help.

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“She was pretty sad and we were both sad,” Braymiller said. “So, it was really nice that she came to see me. she said she’s going to give me help to get everything back to brand new.”

“It is not going to be able to be repaired or redeemed because the bowling alley has literally been collapsed upon because of the weight of snow on the roof so we were just inspecting that,” Governor Hochul said during a winter storm briefing Saturday in Hamburg.

Braymiller told us he will rebuild and thanked the community for their unwavering support over the last 80 years he and his family have been running the bowling alley. For now, he’s trying to salvage the more than 80 years of memorabilia inside that 100-year-old building.