Get ready to throw a few strikes and spares - the long-awaited, much-anticipated new bowling center in Fernley opens today at 10 a.m.

The Frontier Fun Center, which has been under construction for more than a year, features 21 bowling lanes, a kids play center, a sports bar with food, a dining counter, video arcade, two private party rooms and a pro shop. The entire building is non-smoking.

The pro shop is just inside the main entrance, and the kids play land is past that. The play land has air-compressed foam ball cannons and play room for both the toddler crowd and older children.

Wayne Baker, partner in the bowling center, said the center will utilize matching hand stamps on parents and kids to ensure safety.

Main Street Deli is across from the play land and has a counter that offers quick bites like burgers and pizzas.

Around the corner, the JW Stadium Club boasts 10 plasma screen televisions around the area with a large projection screen which drops from the ceiling for broadcasting larger sporting events.

Baker said he is working on getting a betting kiosk in the sports bar soon. The full bar will have four domestic and four premium beers on tap.

More plasma screens are scatters across the concourse, with the bowling desk at the center of all the activity. Behind the bowling desk, the video arcade houses a handful of new video games.

Two small private party rooms, separated by a folding divider, have small kitchenettes with sinks for hosting birthday or bowling parties.

The bowling lanes are made from state-of-the-art synthetic wood that is stripped and oiled daily. Baker, the self-professed bowler of the investor group, said oil moves around the synthetic lanes more than on wood boards and makes the bowling more challenging for experienced bowlers who are used to "reading" the old wood boards.

The scoring system takes place on overhead screens, which can be switched to regular television when desired. Two large screens can drop down over four bowling lanes and projectors can show music videos or broadcast large sporting events like the Super Bowl.

Baker said Rockin' Bowl nights featuring sound and light shows and special visual effects like fog and mist are planned. He said the entire bowling area is outfitted with glow-in-the dark colors, even the bowling balls glow, and black lights illuminate the colors when the lights are turned down.

Baker and his partner, Joe Avilla, who served as general contractor on the center, built and sold the adjacent office complex as funding for the bowling center, which Baker said totaled close to $6 million.

So who gets to play the first game?

"I'm throwing out the first ball," Baker said with a smile.