58 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

Pool hall ready to sink last ball

Liquor licence would help business survive: Peacock Billiards owner

By Darron Kloster, Times Colonist August 6, 2010 8:33 AM Comments (2)

Read more: http://www.timescolo...l#ixzz0vqfcmby7

[D.L.]

ack!

[Rob Randall]

This is tragic as we've waited years for a vibrant, viable business to occupy that troublesome underground space below the CIBC building.

Yet I'm not sure we can hand out rare and valuable liquor primary licenses to any business undergoing financial difficulties. I'm sure Smitty's would like one too.

[jklymak]

I don't think liquor-primary licenses should be hoarded the way they are. Sure you want reputable owners to have them, but more small places that serve alcohol would be good or the city not bad. Complaints emerge from the mega-party complexes with hundreds of people, not local watering holes with 20 or 30 people in them. I think the town would be better off if Peacocks had a license, their financial situation notwithstanding.

[Sparky]

^ This is a great pool hall. I am sorry to see the food part disapear. It will be much better with a liquor primary licence. It was always a little goofy to keep returning to the restaurant part for a sip of cold beer, especially if you were playing at one of the far tables. Now it sounds like beer is not even an option.

[yodsaker]

Some people are still stuck in the past where poolrooms equate to drop-outs with criminal tendencies and therefore a glass of beer would cause all hell to break loose. These days poolrooms are more likely to have Bimmers parked outside and the cusotmers sporting red suspenders.

[victorian fan]

Obviously. there aren't many pool players in Victoria. I wonder why playing pool fell out of favour.

[Sparky]

Obviously. there aren't many pool players in Victoria. I wonder why playing pool fell out of favour.

There are still quite a few, but we are getting older and fewer. Like bowling, the younger generation is not as keen to play as we were growing up. Probably replaced by Playstation, Wii, and online games instead of Monopoly, chess, bowling, and pool.

I still have a pool table in my kitchen. It is safer to play at home with a few beers instead of driving back from a pub or pool hall after a few beers.

[yodsaker]

A Victoria poolroom produced a world snooker champion in Cliff Thorburn, sad to think there will soon be no rooms left.

[sebberry]

I stopped playing there when they moved downtown, not because they don't serve beer.

That being said, the city needs to get on this quick. Months of study will not help this place, just let people carry their beer to the pool tables

[victorian fan]

A Victoria poolroom produced a world snooker champion in Cliff Thorburn, sad to think there will soon be no rooms left.

I remember Cliff quite well. I believe he went UK to play in some championships.
Didn't he play a "Perfect Game" once?

[Sparky]

I remember Cliff quite well. I believe he went UK to play in some championships.
Didn't he play a "Perfect Game" once?

Yes, you are correct.

http://cliffthorburn...rinder/bio.html

[aastra]

So with this I suppose we can say the era of comfortable billiards places in Victoria is officially coming to a close? There was a time in the early 1990s when there were three or four nice establishments in town and you still had to wait for a table. Back then Peacock could be quite crowded even in the middle of the night.

[sebberry]

I remember playing at Cues on View when I was a kid

[Mike K.]

I stopped playing there when they moved downtown, not because they don't serve beer.

You mean when they moved three blocks to their current location?

It's ludicrous not to be able to have a beer in the playing area. Many people fly out the door because they can have a beer and play pool in a couple of establishments within walking distance of Peacocks.

[martini]

Any update on their situation?

[Mr_E_Squirrel]

From the web page ! Not sure when it was posted
http://www.peacockbilliards.com/

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

Peacock Billiards continued existence is uncertain. I had to close the James Joyce Bistro because of declining sales. How much this will affect pool-time revenue is unknown. Ten poolhalls have gone out of business in Greater Victoria in the last 13 years.

So I'm forced to try an unusual business tactic: begging.

Mostly businesses just close their doors & leave a note.
So customers don't get a chance to help save something they value:
in this case the last poolhall in Greater Victoria and the nicest anywhere.
I don't want to hear "If I had known you were in trouble, I would have brought all my friends."

So
1. Please patronize the poolhall soon.
2. Help us convince the decision-makers to
approve a Liquor Primary license that would allow half the poolhall to have beer served to players at the table. The other half being dry.

Email me at: License@peacockbilliards.com
Say: A. Why YOU want this license.
B. How it would be GOOD FOR THE CITY.

Thanks,
David Peacock

[Holden West]

There's a "for lease" sign outside and I assume it's for the pool hall, not a vacancy in the CIBC tower.

[zinkerled]

I agree with not allowing alcohol at pool tables. We can't allow people to have fun in this city because fun just leads to trouble.

[sebberry]

There's a "for lease" sign outside and I assume it's for the pool hall, not a vacancy in the CIBC tower.

Oh dear, really?

I have to say, since they moved right downtown I haven't been.