One of the country's oldest rooms closed.

[sliprock]

Ace Billiards in Danville Ky has closed for good. We're not really sure when it opened but the owner traced it back to around 1907.It's had many owners and many different names but always had the same equipment. I've seen paintings of the outside of the building and there were horse drawn buggies on the street. :grin: The "oldtimers" have told me stories of Willie Hoppe being there as well as Greenleaf. There's no telling what other champions have snuck through there either doing exhibitions or looking for action. It was a local room to banking great Truman Hogue in his younger days and has produced many other fine players. The room survived a fire about 60 years ago but couldn't survive the latest building owner. He refused to renew the business' lease and will be remodeling and from what I understand will be putting in some kind of cafe/restaurant/coffee house in it's spot. Don't really blame the building owner, but there are lots of 70 year old men that go there to play Bank every morning and they are going to lose "their" home. Many have been going there since they were teenagers and had to have a permission slip signed by their parents to play. RIP.

 

[JAM]

Ace Billiards in Danville Ky has closed for good. We're not really sure when it opened but the owner traced it back to around 1907.It's had many owners and many different names but always had the same equipment. I've seen paintings of the outside of the building and there were horse drawn buggies on the street. :grin: The "oldtimers" have told me stories of Willie Hoppe being there as well as Greenleaf. There's no telling what other champions have snuck through there either doing exhibitions or looking for action. It was a local room to banking great Truman Hogue in his younger days and has produced many other fine players. The room survived a fire about 60 years ago but couldn't survive the latest building owner. He refused to renew the business' lease and will be remodeling and from what I understand will be putting in some kind of cafe/restaurant/coffee house in it's spot. Don't really blame the building owner, but there are lots of 70 year old men that go there to play Bank every morning and they are going to lose "their" home. Many have been going there since they were teenagers and had to have a permission slip signed by their parents to play. RIP.

Wow! That is horrible, especially a place that is so rich with history. Oh, if the walls of that pool room could talk! :smile:

I found a blog about this pool room, and it looks as if somebody was creating a story about Ace Billiards as well as the Joe Latimer family keeping it going: James M. Patterson's Mountain Workshops Blog.

 

[MN Kid]

It hurts to see any hall go under. Seeing one go under with such a long, rich history cuts just that much deeper. Sometimes I wish I would have been born 70 years earlier. Seeing some of those epic halls in their heyday would have been an indescribeable experience.

RG

 

[PUTT4DACA$$H]

is moving an option?

maybe they will be able to find a suitable building space somewhere close and just move to the new space. What kind of tables do they play on, and what are the plans for those antiques? I feel bad for all of those men who grew up with this place, maybe they can still make it go at a different location.

 

[sliprock]

maybe they will be able to find a suitable building space somewhere close and just move to the new space. What kind of tables do they play on, and what are the plans for those antiques? I feel bad for all of those men who grew up with this place, maybe they can still make it go at a different location.

The owner looked into relocating but I think the cost of commercial space was just too high. The room had a below average rent cost for the area. It's was the oldest continually run business in the whole town and don't really know alot of the details of the lease agreement. The tables are a "hybrid" table. The original tables were Brunswicks and the top rails were destroyed in a fire. After the fire, the owner had Steepleton tables come in and reconstruct the tops of the tables. The tables are Brunswick from the slate down with steepleton rails. I don't know what the plans are regarding all the equipment.

 

[sliprock]

Wow! That is horrible, especially a place that is so rich with history. Oh, if the walls of that pool room could talk! :smile:

I found a blog about this pool room, and it looks as if somebody was creating a story about Ace Billiards as well as the Joe Latimer family keeping it going: James M. Patterson's Mountain Workshops Blog.

Thanks for link JAM. I'm gonna have to tell John that a pic of him chalking his cue is online. He's one of the morning regulars that's losing his daily bank pool game.

 

[JG-in-KY]

Thanks for the info Sliprock. That room is one of the last of a dying breed. I remember when most of the towns in Kentucky used to have poolrooms like that. I bet they had some neat memorabilia there.
Bevo

 

[JAM]

Thanks for the info Sliprock. That room is one of the last of a dying breed. I remember when most of the towns in Kentucky used to have poolrooms like that. I bet they had some neat memorabilia there.
Bevo

I wish I could have seen it. It looks like a nice old-fashioned pool room.

You won't see people leaving their cues in the swanky joints of today. Walking into a pool room like this is like walking into the home of an old friend.

The caption of this picture reads: Some patrons keep their cues locked in the racks that line the walls of the room. Some of those cues have been there so long that their keys have been lost and their owners are unknown. :smile:

 

[Lanny]

Hate to hear it, always enjoyed the time I spent there. I live about 40 minutes away in a neighboring county and didn't get to go as often as I would have liked. Wife says, "Hope the new owner isn't expecting our business."