Lower Broadway's next attraction: Double-decker bowling, courtesy of the DeGraw brothers

Sandy Mazza | The Tennessean

Joey and Gavin DeGraw think they know what's missing on Lower Broadway's strip of honky-tonks.

A double-decker bowling alley.

The brothers and co-owners of Nashville Underground recently launched plans to open Broadway Bowl and Bull next year. It will take over the third and fourth floors of the six-story building next to Acme Feed & Seed.

"What do you do with all this space?" said Joey DeGraw. "We have the opportunity to do something that can differentiate us. I don't think more bar space is going to make us different."

Bowling was a mainstay of 1960s blue-collar culture and has since seen progressive declines in its appeal. But in recent years it's attracted a younger, more affluent crowd and is often paired with other entertainment activities.

For instance, when Pinewood Social opened in the trolley barns in 2013 it included a restaurant, a bar, bowling lanes and a bocce ball court.

Timelapse: Broadway overnight Timelapse of Broadway overnight

A $4 million bet

Office tenants occupying Nashville Underground's third and fourth floors were told to move out by next summer to begin work on the bowling alley.

The DeGraw brothers, who are both singers and songwriters, expect to spend $4 million installing up to 12 bowling lanes and other vintage games.

"Bowling is weatherproof," Joey DeGraw said. "A lot of families come here during the day. I think this would be appealing to them."

He described the draw as an impulse purchase akin to buying a pack of gum on display in the checkout aisle — Lower Broadway being the display case.

"We toyed with the idea of a private club," he said. "We can't just have a big open bar on every floor."

Nashville's tourism boom has been lucrative for the strip of honky-tonks, where annual profits for some businesses have soared into the tens of millions.

Additions and renovations

Last year the DeGraws poured $13 million into rebranding and expanding their first-floor bar at 105 Broadway, which was previously known as The National Underground.

They added a video-projection dance floor, modern art, plush couches, and 22 bathrooms in stylish lounges and bars on the first and second floors, and on the two-story rooftop.

Two kitchens now serve Southern-inspired fare throughout the building.

On the weekends, a mechanical bull on the second floor works overtime to knock riders from its saddle.

"We average a few hundred rides a weekend," Joey DeGraw said.

The building was erected in 1946 to store goods delivered from barges on the Cumberland River.

It most recently housed offices before being transformed into a tourist destination.

"The intent was to make the place everything from Nashville's underground," Joey DeGraw said. "Meaning the arts scene — things that might not be seen from the surface."