A decision on the future home of the International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame is still pending, though the USBC has released the Deed of Trust so that a decision is possible. Yet some questions over the fate of the Ballpark Village project in St. Louis have introduced new uncertainty for the IBMHF Trustees.

A souring economy, and the backing out by a $250 million tenant –- the Centene Corp. –- as a corporate anchor of the project, it's been back to the drawing board for the Village’s development partner, the Baltimore-based Cordish Co., and the St. Louis Cardinals. Ballpark Village officials remain confident that they will still be able to build a “world class” development on the plot of land reserved for the project, but negotiations had to be “reset.”

Where does that leave the IBMHF? “I voiced our concerns with [Cardinals’ Chairman] Bill DeWitt III,” said IBMHF Trustee Chairman Pat Ciniello, “and Bill is very confident that the negotiations will continue, and that ground will be broken between October and November of this year. I informed him that negotiations with Arlington [to relocate with the BPAA and USBC] have improved greatly, to the point where their offer is more in line with the Village offer.”

The St. Louis media has treated the Village project unmercifully, one scribe even calling it “a hoax,” but Ciniello noted that all sides are cooperating, and as far as St. Louis is concerned, he is placing his faith in the Cardinals’ Chairman. “DeWitt is a class act,” concluded Ciniello, “and hopefully, we’ll put this baby to rest by mid-May.”