"The Palace of Bocce", is just a liitle more than a mile from the "other" Detroit Palace, The Palace of Auburn Hills, the home of this years NBA Monarchy.

The Bocce Palace is a 32,000 square foot facility, that will have 10 indoor championship courts, spectator seating, a pro shop, and a restaurant that features fine Italian cuisine and wines.

This complex is the dream of Anthony Battaglia, a Detroit area 62-year-old retired owner of a construction business, and a bocce enthusiast.

San Jose Mercury News
Mike Householder
Associated Press
Thursday, Jun. 17, 2004

ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. - More than 20,000 frenzied basketball fans packed The Palace of Auburn Hills this week to witness the crowning of a champion.

A little more than a mile north another palace swung open its doors and welcomed visitors for a competition of a different kind.

The ancient game of bocce is given the royal treatment at the Palazzo di Bocce, whose 10 indoor courts, 32,000 square feet of space and full-service Italian restaurant make it one of the most elaborate such complexes in the United States.

The venue is the brainchild of owner and developer Anthony Battaglia, a bocce enthusiast from Oakland Township who dreamed of sharing his love of the game with others.

Battaglia, whose parents took him as a child to watch bocce matches at a local park, appreciates the two sides of the sport: the competitive and the social.

"I said to myself, `Maybe I can combine the two of them.' Build a place that's attractive, that looks nice and is competitive with good courts," said Battaglia, a 62-year-old retired owner of a construction business. "Then try to get all these backyard players in here to enjoy themselves, sit down with some other friends and come on a regular basis. Pretty soon you have a club full of people knowing each other."

Bocce, which features elements of bowling, golf and shuffleboard, is particularly popular among Italian-Americans, who are some of its greatest advocates and best players.

The purpose of the game is to roll the bocce, a 4 1/2-inch ball that weighs about 3 pounds, as close as possible to the pallino, a 1 3/4-inch ball that first is rolled down the court. The bocce that comes closest to the pallino scores. Games, which typically feature two teams of four players each, are played in frames until one team accumulates 12 points.

Some historians say the Egyptians played a form of bocce 7,000 years ago using polished rocks. Today, the game is played across the world, but is especially popular in Italy.

Battaglia hopes Palazzo di Bocce, which opened to the public on Monday, draws players of all ages. After all, he says, physical limitations do not preclude participation.

"It's so easy to play. Look around you," Battaglia said last week during the complex's first event, Detroit Lions coach Steve Mariucci's Celebrity Bocce Ball Tournament. "The rules are easy to learn. You don't need equipment. You don't have to have a lot of time. It's relatively simple to get into."

Six of Palazzo di Bocce's courts run parallel to the restaurant, the 4,000 square-foot Trattoria di Bocce. The remaining four courts are located in a courtyard area with potted plants and fountains surrounding them.

"The facility he has built not only is the best in the United States, but it would make several international sites jealous," said Danny Passaglia, a U.S. Bocce Federation official who lives in Homer Glen, Ill.

Passaglia, Battaglia and others say bocce is experiencing a surge in popularity, although such claims are difficult to substantiate due to a lack of statistics detailing participation levels over time.

The exact number of recreational players is hard to arrive at because many players across the country play for fun in their backyards or local parks and are not members of clubs or larger organizations like the U.S. Bocce Federation.

"Bocce is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds," said John Ross, president of the U.S. Bocce Federation. "A few years ago, bocce balls were difficult to find in stores and could only be obtained from a few sources or imported from Italy. Now you can find bocce balls for sale in most sporting good stores and major outlets ... and there are clubs and facilities in every state.

ON THE NET:

Palazzo di Bocce: http://www.palazzodibocce.com
U.S. Bocce Federation: http://www.bocce.com

AP Wire | 06/17/2004 | Detroit-area enthusiast builds one of nation's largest bocce complexes
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/
mercurynews/sports/8947723.htm?1c

Detroit Free Press (MI)
BOCCE PALACE HAS GOT GAME AND FOOD, TOO
Published on June 10, 2004