At first glance, the notion of providing public access to bowling, at a time when alleys are closing left and right, looks good. The trick will be to arrange things so the city ends up getting the best recreational value for its investment, which currently seems likely to involve land, not money.

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, in response to her urban Honolulu constituents, hopes to keep bowling viable by providing city support for the sport. Come February, with the expected shuttering of Waialae Bowl, it will become nearly impossible for leagues and individual bowlers to book lane space, and even more closures are on the horizon.

A group of investors is being assembled to build a bowling center at an estimated cost of up to $15 million. Its members would like the city to participate by contributing land, and Kobayashi has been aiding the search.

City land in Honolulu proper is a rare commodity, although the prospect of a swap with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for the property beneath the old Stadium Bowl-o-Drome is an option the council should explore.

Finding the site is the biggest challenge by far, but this would be a project distinct from other municipal-private joint enterprises, presenting other wrinkles that would need ironing out.

Kobayashi said the project would need to go out to bid, which ought to help answer private competitors complaining that a bowling alley on low-to-no-rent city land would have an unfair advantage.

A bowling alley run on city property should have oversight by the Department of Enterprise Services. It's likely to produce revenue for the city as well as profit for its private operators, in much the same way that concert promoters and other commercial operations pay rent for the use of the Neal Blaisdell Center.

Ultimately it could be a win-win for everyone — including senior citizens and youth groups especially hard-pressed to pursue their love of bowling — if a site can be secured.

That's a big "if," but it's a possibility worth pursuing.