Residents near the Whitestone Lanes in Queens say the potential closing of the bowling alley that has been around for decades would be a loss to the community.

The property may be converted to a nine-story apartment building with affordable housing units after the City Council in February approved a rezoning development plan, but a spokesperson for the family-owned business said no decisions have been made on the alley’s future.

 “I was going there at least twice a week,” high school bowler George Walsh said. “I eat, sleep, dream of bowling.”

Walsh, 15, said he splits his practice time between Jib Lanes in Fresh Meadows and Whitestone Lanes, which has been a Flushing community gathering spot and sports venue since the 1960s.

“I’ve been bowling since I was 4, and I love how I can kill all the pins and destroy all the racks and shoot the best score that I can,” he said.

Bruce Slutsky has been bowling at Whitestone with his father since he was 10 years old.

“In any neighborhood when an icon goes, it’s kind of sad,” Slutsky, a longtime Flushing resident, said. “So it’s just, people who like bowling in this neighborhood would have to go somewhere else and travel if they wanted to.”

Slutsky launched a petition five years ago to stop the construction project, gathering more than 200 signatures, hoping it stays a bowling alley, citing concerns such as congestion.

“This intersection is busy as it is,” he said. “It would get busier. There’s also concern about schools in the area. The schools are very crowded as it is, and it would add more students to the local schools.”

Community Board 7 vice chair Chuck Apelian said he believes the project is necessary after years of on and off again discussions about whether the property should be expanded for commercial use or for residential use.

“There is no commercial, no manufacturing, it is 100% residential,” Apelian said. “And I think that was very important for a number of reasons. The buzzword is the housing crisis. The buzzword is affordable housing. This satisfies both of that.”

The owners said the zoning approval doesn’t mean the deal is done, but it does open the doors for the community gathering space to become a living space.

 Slutsky is preparing for what he considers the worst outcome.

“We don’t have a bowling alley, but maybe you’ll have new neighbors,” he said.