Billiards Coming to Speedwell Ave.
Business would feature six pool tables and small coffee/sandwich bar.
Photos
While everyone's cooling off in the water this steamy summer, a different kind of pool is expected to come to town by the fall.
The Planning Board approved on Thursday night a coin-operated six-table billiard hall at 147 Speedwell Ave., to be owned and maintained by fellow Planning Board member Hector Cardona.
Cardona, who recused himself from the vote, presented to the rest of the Planning Board members his plan for the billiard hall, which also would include a small coffee and sandwich bar, in the 1,400 square-foot space currently occupied by Costamar, a travel service.
It would be the return of a long-ago staple from High Street, now Cattano Avenue, that several Planning Board members recalled attending.
"It's important we have an activity like this in town," member Timothy Murphy said. "It gives people an outlet."
Still, with billiards could come the potential for illegal gambling, which several Planning Board members told Cardona he would need to keep an eye on. "It was an issue back then," Murphy said.
Other conditions for the business included not allowing any outside food or beverages, including alcohol, and making sure all of the lights in the parking lot were functioning by the time the business opened.
Cardona said he intended for the billiard hall to be a family establishment. He pledged to have 25 cameras installed, 20 inside and five outside, to monitor for any concerns.
"At this point there is nothing there for families," Cardona said. "I was looking at that area for bringing other options, not another bar or restaurant. I wanted to see what the community could use and benefit from."
Mayor Tim Dougherty, who sits on the Planning Board, said he expected the billiard hall to be a successful business venture, "because you're a good businessman."
Planning Board member Michael Pooler was particularly excited about the return of billiards to Morristown. "I love to play pool," he said. "I will definitely be there."
Ryan
11:33 am on Friday, July 27, 2012
This is great! Can't wait to check it out.
RobbyC
3:38 pm on Saturday, July 28, 2012
THIS IS SO CORRUPT! How on Earth can they explain why they wouldn't allow Futbol-Landia to have more than 1 pool table? Futbol-Landia is 3 times the size and has a full restaurant! I've said it before, the Mayor (Tim Dougherty) just lets his friends do anything they want. He knows elections are coming up and the hispanics have started to hate him so he gives his one hispanic friend a pool hall and tell him, "make sure all your little friends vote for me." This is terrible. Ryan, Judging by your name I seriously doubt you will be welcome there unless you are Ryan Dougherty (Tim Dougherty's son).
longtime local
9:01 pm on Saturday, July 28, 2012
So Corrupt! RobbyC you sound like you have been around longer than i have! This is going to be the furthest thing there is from a Family Establishment. Dougherty is a Joke. Maybe Snooki can go here and the Iron Bar, (another place the Mayor snuck by the town for his friend Jimmy). Great job Dougherty! You will be set when the public votes you out next year!
ja006fo
11:57 am on Friday, July 27, 2012
Billards but no Bowling. I don't get it. I am sure after they open, they will come before the planning board again to apply for a liquor permit. I wonder how this fits in the "Speedwell Redevelopment Plan".
Ryan
12:17 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Don't get me wrong - I would love to see the bowling alley get approved. This, however, is completely different. They are not moving a historic building, not putting a new larger building on an already crowded street and, despite your speculation that it may ultimately happen, are not planning to serve alcohol.
Again, I really want the bowling alley - but you're comparing apples and oranges.
ja006fo
1:15 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Ryan, I guess what I don't get is how this planning board makes decisions. As a former Planning Board member from a neighboring down, here is what I see with a billiards hall / coffee shop / sandwich shop in this location. Parking is always an issue in this location. Traffic is a problem, you have a one way street going behind the building and 3 or 4 lanes of road in front of the building. Foot traffic is dangerous, have you ever driven down Speedwell at any time during the day (a rhetorical question). People step off the curb without even looking to see if traffic is coming and that is only because the town has opted to put a yield to pedestrians in cross walk in the middle of the road, which you can't even see from the outside lanes. There are even cross walks at either end of the block at the traffic lights, a much safer place to cross. All this is going to lead to a bad situation and a safety issue.
On the bowling alley, you don't have any of the issues mentioned above. Given the proximity to one of the owners other locations, perhaps they should have said they were just going to build a bowling ally with self-serve yogurt (the planning board clearly has an affinity for yogurt, they will soon out number the banks in town). Then after they opened they could have put a door way over to Tashmoo and it could be a BYOB bowling ally with yogurt, a place to bring the whole family.
liliana romero
7:57 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
sure..is easy liquor in Morristown.. not , not and not is very expensive
Margret Brady
4:17 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
JA006fo must not be aware the DeHart Street is even more conjested and has more traffic issues. You just can't compare cramming 3 bowling alleys in a spce not good for one and adding a bar for each alley plus another on the roof. As a prior poster said, apples and oranges are not the same or perhaps this more like comparing a bunch of bannas to a single grape.
ja006fo
4:38 pm on Friday, July 27, 2012
Margret, I would rather travel down DeHart Street all day then have to deal with the traffic on Speedwell. In fact as a pedestrian/cyclist, I have almost been hit three times in that area of Speedwell and never while on DeHart. So I see it both from a drivers point of view and a pedestrians. Clearly the space was big enough for the three bowling lanes or it would not have been proposed. If someone wanted to just open a bar there, that would have been proposed. Further I'm not sure the number of bowling lanes was the issue, but nice try. I guess we will all have to wait and see what happens with a billiards hall in town, I'm sure it will have a huge draw! I can hear it now "Hey guys, let's go to that pool hall in Morristown this weekend for some coffee and sandwiches".
Can't wait to see the planning board and the mayor at the ribbon cutting. It will probably be their first and last time there.
geezer
8:37 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012
The reason is clear: Speedwell is on one side of the tracks and DeHart is on the other.
Motown Resident
9:44 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012
So the huge public parking garage on DeHart St. and the traffic it generates, will restrict future business growth in the area the garage was intended to serve? Oh that makes perfect sense. That follows the logic of turning down a business in the business zone, great job Morristown Business Partnership for stepping to the plate and assisting Morristown business growth.
Tryclyde
8:42 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
A pool hall on Speedwell; should be a fine family establishment and won't be seedy at all.
Warren Bobrow
4:53 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012
A pool hall? Hmmm. This isn't the Hustler is it?