Article from the Connecticut Post Online dated September 23, 2007.
http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_6973081
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Billiards returns to downtown Derby
MATTHEW HIGBEE mhigbee@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post Online ? September 23, 2007
DERBY, CT Pool halls have the reputation of being dingy and smoke-filled places for hustlers and tough guys ? not the sort place you'd want your teenagers hanging out. But walk into Fat's, in the former Polish-American Club ballroom on the top floor of a 19th-century city-block building, and all those negative impressions melt away.
"This is not that old-style pool room, with cigar smoke and 10 guys up at the front gambling," said Mike Pierce, who opened the business on Sept. 1 with partner Dennis Lee. "This is wide open, lit up, and very accommodating."
Light floods the dance hall, which still has the original 15-foot high tin ceilings, wood wainscoting, and most important for shooting pool, no roof-supporting poles in the way. For most of its history, the space was used for weddings, parties, and dances sponsored by the now inactive Polish-American Club in downtown Derby. More recently, it had also been used as for dance and martial arts lessons.
Pierce and Lee put more than $75,000 and into renovating the space and stocking it with what they said were the best tables that money could buy. The result, Pierce said, was a pool hall that had more space between their 10 tables than any other place in the state.
"Four-and-a-half to five feet is the standard," Pierce said. We have a minimum of six feet, and eight feet off the walls."
Pierce and Lee opened Fat's with the goal of providing a safe clean place for teenagers and adults to hang out.
They are filling a void that opened after Derby Billiards, a fixture on Main Street for 35 years, was demolished last year to make way for a planned redevelopment project on the south side of Main Street.
As a Valley teenager and young adult in the 1970s and early 1980s, Lee spent many a night at Derby Billiards. He credits it with giving him and his friends a place to stay out of trouble.
Now, he wants to create a similar environment for local youth. "I think it's a good place to hang out for both adults and teens," Lee said. "It's a nice place to go, where you're not going to be hassled." Pierce added that they decided not to seek a liquor permit out of a strong desire to attract younger clientele. "These kids have no places to go and nothing to do," Pierce said. "This is safe enough where they can enjoy themselves and be themselves."
Fat's is located at 139 Main Street in Derby, CT and is open Monday-Wednesday 3 p.m. to midnight; Thursday -Friday 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. This Friday through Sunday, Fat's is offering free pool. For more information, call (203) 734-7713.
Michael Pierce is the owner of Derby's newest billiards room, Fat's Pool Hall.
(Autumn Pinette/ Connecticut Post)
http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_6973081
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Billiards returns to downtown Derby
MATTHEW HIGBEE mhigbee@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post Online ? September 23, 2007
DERBY, CT Pool halls have the reputation of being dingy and smoke-filled places for hustlers and tough guys ? not the sort place you'd want your teenagers hanging out. But walk into Fat's, in the former Polish-American Club ballroom on the top floor of a 19th-century city-block building, and all those negative impressions melt away.
"This is not that old-style pool room, with cigar smoke and 10 guys up at the front gambling," said Mike Pierce, who opened the business on Sept. 1 with partner Dennis Lee. "This is wide open, lit up, and very accommodating."
Light floods the dance hall, which still has the original 15-foot high tin ceilings, wood wainscoting, and most important for shooting pool, no roof-supporting poles in the way. For most of its history, the space was used for weddings, parties, and dances sponsored by the now inactive Polish-American Club in downtown Derby. More recently, it had also been used as for dance and martial arts lessons.
Pierce and Lee put more than $75,000 and into renovating the space and stocking it with what they said were the best tables that money could buy. The result, Pierce said, was a pool hall that had more space between their 10 tables than any other place in the state.
"Four-and-a-half to five feet is the standard," Pierce said. We have a minimum of six feet, and eight feet off the walls."
Pierce and Lee opened Fat's with the goal of providing a safe clean place for teenagers and adults to hang out.
They are filling a void that opened after Derby Billiards, a fixture on Main Street for 35 years, was demolished last year to make way for a planned redevelopment project on the south side of Main Street.
As a Valley teenager and young adult in the 1970s and early 1980s, Lee spent many a night at Derby Billiards. He credits it with giving him and his friends a place to stay out of trouble.
Now, he wants to create a similar environment for local youth. "I think it's a good place to hang out for both adults and teens," Lee said. "It's a nice place to go, where you're not going to be hassled." Pierce added that they decided not to seek a liquor permit out of a strong desire to attract younger clientele. "These kids have no places to go and nothing to do," Pierce said. "This is safe enough where they can enjoy themselves and be themselves."
Fat's is located at 139 Main Street in Derby, CT and is open Monday-Wednesday 3 p.m. to midnight; Thursday -Friday 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. This Friday through Sunday, Fat's is offering free pool. For more information, call (203) 734-7713.
Michael Pierce is the owner of Derby's newest billiards room, Fat's Pool Hall.
(Autumn Pinette/ Connecticut Post)