Covid and Gold Crown Billiards, Erie PA

[Paul Schofield]

We were initially closed for four months. Since reopening, we are operating under the following restrictions:
- the two sit down bars are closed
- limited to 50% capacity
- no band music
- alcohol can only be served with a meal
- the dining areas must close at 11:00
- play is prohibited on the six Diamond Bar Tables in the bar areas
- dart play is prohibited
- tournaments and leagues are prohibited

The property is highly visible and at the very center of our city at the convergence of three main roads. Liquor Law Enforcement, the City and State Police, the local Health Board have been in my place every week. So what are we doing to get through all this? It would seem to me that this is the opportune time to do some deep cleaning, major remodeling and upgrading. This is some what has been done so far. We are not done yet:
- replaced the roof
- all new carpet in the pool room
- repainted all the trim work blue
- repainted all the Gold Crown legs and stretchers to match the aprons
- upgraded the sound system
- rewired some exterior signage lighting from florescent to LED, replaced all burned out exterior LEDs on 5 signs
- ordered custom LED neon style interior art signs

After 42 years, my heart and soul is still in it.

 

[garczar]

Awesome room.

 

[Dead Money]

Wow!! That place is so nice. Happy to see you are making the best of a bad situation.

 

[ChrisinNC]

We were initially closed for four months. Since reopening, we are operating under the following restrictions:
- the two sit down bars are closed
- limited to 50% capacity
- alcohol can only be served with a meal
- the dining areas must close at 11:00
- play is prohibited on the six Diamond Bar Tables in the bar areas
- dart play is prohibited
- tournaments and leagues are prohibited

The property is highly visible and at the very center of our city at he convergence of three main roads. Liquor Law Enforcement, the City and State Police, the local Health Board have been in my place every week. So what are we doing to get through all this? It would seem to me that this is the opportune time to do some deep cleaning, major remodeling and upgrading. This is some what has been done so far. we are not done yet:
- replaced the roof
- all new carpet in the pool room
- repainted all the trim work blue
- repainted all the Gold Crown legs and stretchers to match the aprons
- upgraded the sound system
- rewired some exterior lighting from florescent to LED, replaced all burned out exterior LEDs on 5 signs
- ordered custom LED neon style interior art signs

After 42 years, my heart and soul is still in it.

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Nice to see you could afford to take this opportunity to put $ in the upgrades / repairs. I was lucky enough to do some simpler upgrades to our pool room while we were forced to close in the spring for 2 months. Sadly, many pool rooms have not been as fortunate as us.

 

[Buzzard II]

The very best of luck to both Paul and Chris. Hopefully with careful planning and an effective vaccine you can open full tilt come spring.

Chris I tour your way on motorcycle twice a year in spring and fall. So now that's two trips I've missed your shop. Plus I wanted to hit the "Beat the Heat" rally in Maggie Valley this July. I hope to make it in 2021.

 

[jalapus logan]

Awesome, awesome room! Well done!

 

[Bavafongoul]

What a great environment and generous spacing too......Top notch all around in every aspect.....Best of Luck.

 

[CuesDirectly]

We were initially closed for four months. Since reopening, we are operating under the following restrictions:
- the two sit down bars are closed
- limited to 50% capacity
- no band music
- alcohol can only be served with a meal
- the dining areas must close at 11:00
- play is prohibited on the six Diamond Bar Tables in the bar areas
- dart play is prohibited
- tournaments and leagues are prohibited

The property is highly visible and at the very center of our city at he convergence of three main roads. Liquor Law Enforcement, the City and State Police, the local Health Board have been in my place every week. So what are we doing to get through all this? It would seem to me that this is the opportune time to do some deep cleaning, major remodeling and upgrading. This is some what has been done so far. we are not done yet:
- replaced the roof
- all new carpet in the pool room
- repainted all the trim work blue
- repainted all the Gold Crown legs and stretchers to match the aprons
- upgraded the sound system
- rewired some exterior signage lighting from florescent to LED, replaced all burned out exterior LEDs on 5 signs
- ordered custom LED neon style interior art signs

After 42 years, my heart and soul is still in it.

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So awesome that I decided to bump it back to the top.

Smart people who own businesses do exactly as this guy is doing, make the down time count in your favor, turn the lemons into lemonade.

Keep this guy on the front page for a while.

 

[Black-Balled]

Paul and Chris both have incredible rooms.
I do somewhat kick my me for never visiting either, being a mid-atlantic-er, as I am.

Soon, guys!

 

[CJ Wiley]

We were initially closed for four months. Since reopening, we are operating under the following restrictions:
- the two sit down bars are closed
- limited to 50% capacity
- no band music
- alcohol can only be served with a meal
- the dining areas must close at 11:00
- play is prohibited on the six Diamond Bar Tables in the bar areas
- dart play is prohibited
- tournaments and leagues are prohibited

The property is highly visible and at the very center of our city at the convergence of three main roads. Liquor Law Enforcement, the City and State Police, the local Health Board have been in my place every week. So what are we doing to get through all this? It would seem to me that this is the opportune time to do some deep cleaning, major remodeling and upgrading. This is some what has been done so far. we are not done yet:
- replaced the roof
- all new carpet in the pool room
- repainted all the trim work blue
- repainted all the Gold Crown legs and stretchers to match the aprons
- upgraded the sound system
- rewired some exterior signage lighting from florescent to LED, replaced all burned out exterior LEDs on 5 signs
- ordered custom LED neon style interior art signs

After 42 years, my heart and soul is still in it.

View attachment 575390
View attachment 575391
View attachment 575392

I LOVED your room, equipment and what was even better was your hospitality!

It was a blast from the past sharing stories like when you played Dalton, and all the players we have had adventures with. Congratulations on all your upgrades, hard to believe you could make your establishment much better and apparently you outdid yourself!

I respect your passion, dedication and wisdom for all aspects of pocket billiards.......continued success my friend.

PS: Practice up, I owe you a rematch next time I'm in town!

The Game is the Teacher

 

[David in FL]

Great room. It’s a shame, the idiocy that you’re being put through up there...

 

[Dead Money]

Ok...Paul is a good dude and his room is amazing. If you are anywhere near there go visit!! We need to help the small business owners not just for now but for their and our futures.

 

[Patrick53212]

That is fantastic that you could afford to take the hit in sales and get these improvements made to your establishment. I just hope that the government and the bureaucrats (technocrats!) pushing these policies and shutdowns are pushed out or forced to relinquish this tyrannical control they have now imposed on the citizenry. There will be no bailouts for the privately-owned businesses....but of course there will be for the corporations and banks.

 

[Dead Money]

That is fantastic that you could afford to take the hit in sales and get these improvements made to your establishment. I just hope that the government and the bureaucrats (technocrats!) pushing these policies and shutdowns are pushed out or forced to relinquish this tyrannical control they have now imposed on the citizenry. There will be no bailouts for the privately-owned businesses....but of course there will be for the corporations and banks.

I don't want to turn this into a war but early on there were some programs to help small businesses pay their employees even though they were running limited hours or closed. There was also a very outsized unemployment benefit for workers that lost jobs because of Covid. Overall the entire situation has been a mess. I look forward to a day when things are normal again and Paul's place is full of with pool players and guests in his bar/restaurant!

 

[SBC]

My room, Salt City Billiards, has been harassed continually by the liquor board until I surrendered my liquor license.

A week later the county came after us for unauthorized Public Amusement. They wrote $1,000 citations for allowing players to engage in a high risk sport, which billiards clearly is not. They have seen we are in the press on 4 occasions, along with the bars and strip clubs they target.

We transitioned to a 501(c) 7 nonprofit social organization. Very easy to do...cost under 100 bucks. I opened a seperate bank account. My first for profit LLC subleases the space and equipment to the nonprofit. We installed a fingerprint access magnetic lock system and security system to limit entry to members only. We will cover the bills, be playing pool and keep our chalk dry for better days.

The government has so grossly mishandled this...
12 million people lose unemployment next month and eviction protections are gone too. What they hell will the government do? Not a goddam thing. Take care of yourselves people, no help is coming.

 

[Dead Money]

My room, Salt City Billiards, has been harassed continually by the liquor board until I surrendered my liquor license.

A week later the county came after us for unauthorized Public Amusement. They wrote $1,000 citations for allowing players to engage in a high risk sport, which billiards clearly is not. They have seen we are in the press on 4 occasions, along with the bars and strip clubs they target.

We transitioned to a 501(c) 7 nonprofit social organization. Very easy to do...cost under 100 bucks. I opened a seperate bank account. My first for profit LLC subleases the space and equipment to the nonprofit. We installed a fingerprint access magnetic lock system and security system to limit entry to members only. We will cover the bills, be playing pool and keep our chalk dry for better days.

The government has so grossly mishandled this...
12 million people lose unemployment next month and eviction protections are gone too. What they hell will the government do? Not a goddam thing. Take care of yourselves people, no help is coming.

That is ridiculous. Meanwhile during that same time there were huge protests and rallies of all kinds, private citizens have been having outsized gatherings and you, Paul and others have been forced to shut down and face closing forever as a real possibility. In Austin where I live there is now a long list of long time great places that have shut down and won't be coming back. A few of them are even somewhat famous. I feel for all of you guys/gals. You are in a terrible spot right now.

 

[Dan_B]

My room, Salt City Billiards, has been harassed continually by the liquor board until I surrendered my liquor license.

A week later the county came after us for unauthorized Public Amusement. They wrote $1,000 citations for allowing players to engage in a high risk sport, which billiards clearly is not. They have seen we are in the press on 4 occasions, along with the bars and strip clubs they target.

We transitioned to a 501(c) 7 nonprofit social organization. Very easy to do...cost under 100 bucks. I opened a seperate bank account. My first for profit LLC subleases the space and equipment to the nonprofit. We installed a fingerprint access magnetic lock system and security system to limit entry to members only. We will cover the bills, be playing pool and keep our chalk dry for better days.

The government has so grossly mishandled this...
12 million people lose unemployment next month and eviction protections are gone too. What they hell will the government do? Not a goddam thing. Take care of yourselves people, no help is coming.

I like it, that's using the old noggin, very appropriate for these times.

it may of been observed already,
I'd like to think the coin for the fix up is that ppe, hero's act money, suppose to be forgivable debt, eventually..., seems like good use of gambling money

 

[SBC]

I like it, that's using the old noggin, very appropriate for these times.

it may of been observed already,
I'd like to think the coin for the fix up is that ppe, hero's act money, suppose to be forgivable debt, eventually..., seems like good use of gambling money

There have been billiard private clubs historically. Non profits are phase 2 legal in New York, under same guidelines as Offices. So we won't be bothered until they stop people from working in offices. 1.3 million nonprofit organizations in the US. So we are not alone.