Pool Hall coming soon to Lena Illinois
- Thread starter MoonshineMattK
- Start date
My 1st move was to meet with the mayor, that seemed to go well. He asked me to present my ideas at the next town board meeting. At that meeting, the mayor - whom I previously felt was an ally - acted as though we were being introduced for the 1st time. After speaking for a few minutes praising the value a pool hall would bring to our community and describing the wonderful rooms in Beloit WI (The Carom Room) and Dubuque IA (Q Masters) my face and ears were glowing red. Sitting down to discover my fate heart in my stomach the board members silently studied me. A man my fathers age spoke. "Janice from church...."
His words took the wind straight out of me.
"Janice from church has to travel all over creation to compete in pool tournaments. It would be nice if there was a place closer."
I haven't had any resistance to opening the pool hall. My liquor license is approved, building permit granted, TIF district money allotted. Everything is progressing wonderfully except for the leaking roof I did not discover until after closing on the property. My first meeting with the mayor took place in 2007 so this has all been in the works for years.
I agree and good luck to you. Firehouse them good idea. Johnnyt
You said repairing the roof. Did you mean rebuilding the roof??Well, things are finally moving forward. Contractor is on site repairing the roof.
Absolute best of luck to you. On opening day the entire town, newspeople, mayor, moms and dads should all be there. And bring the kids.
there ain't nothing like a few hours with your old man at the pool hall. I remember.
Is that a lawn mower up there?
Thanks for the kind words.
The lawnmower is something I welded up to make the tear off easier. It had two layers of coal tar pitch style roof. I was lucky enough to have some friends willing to come over and help.
Good Luck!! :thumbup:
Lena has about 2900 people, About an hour west of Belvidere.
As an aside I'll have a room that I could walk to if I had too. Really looking forward
to seeing what Matt will get going at his place. Great news!!!!!:thumbup:
The reason I ask, I live in a town about 5000 people....and no pool room. I've always wanted to own and run a pool room, perhaps as my retirement business....go in debt-free, and not have to worry about it making a fortune.... I have about 15 years or so to figure it out. I pay very close attention to pool hall owners and any advice they have to offer....I think I've come up with a plan that would be successful around here....but not to hijack the OP's thread, I wish you the best of luck, and please keep us updated on your progress and how business is going!!
The area (county) has a population of approximately 50,000. No pool rooms with
9' tables, closest real room being approximately 50 miles away. As you can imagine Lena alone cannot support a room and I'm reasonable sure Matt is looking at the Freeport, IL and Monroe, WI area and all the small towns as his base. Sure hope it works for him.
9' tables, closest real room being approximately 50 miles away. As you can imagine Lena alone cannot support a room and I'm reasonable sure Matt is looking at the Freeport, IL and Monroe, WI area and all the small towns as his base. Sure hope it works for him.
I was asked for more pics. Here they are.
Can't believe its been over a month since the last update. Time flies and it feels like I should have more done. The wainscot is painted and the conduit and wiring are 90% done. Spent the last weekend sanding the concrete in preparation for an epoxy coating. (dust everywhere should have done that 1st before painting) Hopefully the epoxy will be done by the coming weekend and then it will be time to start setting up tables.
Can't believe its been over a month since the last update. Time flies and it feels like I should have more done. The wainscot is painted and the conduit and wiring are 90% done. Spent the last weekend sanding the concrete in preparation for an epoxy coating. (dust everywhere should have done that 1st before painting) Hopefully the epoxy will be done by the coming weekend and then it will be time to start setting up tables.
Really looking forward to the room opening up, be back in Lena early April ready to play!
Looks great Matt
Looks great Matt
Real Work
After doing this quite a few times, I found the real work to be once your open. ''Make sure you have a professional bartender'' with personality, not one who can flip bottles and knows every drink, those guyz/gals are a dime a dozen. This person can make or break ya. Having spent thirty five years In customer service, this is an area of utmost concern. Not a tongue and cheeky person with a huge smile, but someone with ethics, hard worker and concern for all. They are hard to find, but if you look when you go out to dinner or ????? watch em and then put a bug in their ear about what ya got going on.
Oh yeah, and Good Luck, and don't forget to look BACK at your original business plan from time to time. Also, make sure you've got a way out when your going in.
After doing this quite a few times, I found the real work to be once your open. ''Make sure you have a professional bartender'' with personality, not one who can flip bottles and knows every drink, those guyz/gals are a dime a dozen. This person can make or break ya. Having spent thirty five years In customer service, this is an area of utmost concern. Not a tongue and cheeky person with a huge smile, but someone with ethics, hard worker and concern for all. They are hard to find, but if you look when you go out to dinner or ????? watch em and then put a bug in their ear about what ya got going on.
Oh yeah, and Good Luck, and don't forget to look BACK at your original business plan from time to time. Also, make sure you've got a way out when your going in.