COULD MARIJUANA DISPENSARY SAVE CENTER IN MAINE?

Indoor smoking bans contributed to the decline of league bowling as they were gradually implemented across the country.

Now, in an ironic twist, a medical marijuana dispensary could help save Meadow Lanes in Wilton, Maine — or, at least, part of it.

The Wilton Planning Board recently held a public hearing on an application to change part of the bowling center into a dispensary. The property’s potential buyer, Frank Berenyi, told the board he’d like to convert 3,000 square feet of the center into a dispensary and keep eight of the 16 lanes for bowling.

He said a visit to the center while people were bowling — in particular, a senior group — convinced him that the community needed the facility.

Community members also spoke up at the hearing, expressing their concerns about the center’s future.