EVERETT – It was so quiet at the Tyee Lanes bowling alley in north Everett on Monday that you could hear a pin drop.

Although none did.

That’s because the lanes closed Sunday night.

It was announced earlier this year that the property is part of Everett Community College’s expansion plans.

When Legislature-approved funds for the deal became available July 1, building and property owners Jeanne and Dan Bracken of Seattle decided to sell.

“The bowling business is not what it was,” Jeanne Bracken said Monday.

Dan Bracken built the facility with 16 lanes in 1957. Eight more lanes were added later.

“He always said eventually the college would buy this,” Jeanne Bracken said.

Gordon Cea, who has run the alley at 914 Broadway for 20 years, owns all the bowling equipment. He was unavailable for comment, but Jeanne Bracken said he plans to retire.

She said they kept quiet about the closing because word already was “getting around and hurting his business. Summers are very difficult.”

Along with the bowling alley, EvCC plans to tear down the Royal Motor Inn, a counseling and education center for pregnant women, a 20-unit apartment building, a gas station, a used-car lot and six single-family homes

College officials say the purchase of 14 acres east of the 23-acre campus is needed to keep up with enrollment, which is expected to grow from 10,000 to about 16,000 by 2027.

The first three new buildings would be constructed on current college land, mostly parking lots. The college needs the new land largely for replacement parking.

By 2025, though, the college wants to build about 405,000 square feet of new classrooms, offices and other space.

The college also wants to build a six-story parking garage. A new transit center also is planned.

Assistant city editor Steve Powell: 425-339-3427 or powell@heraldnet.com.