Founders of the Hanover Theater are looking to complement their space

By Chet Williamson

Elite Billiards in Federal Square is the oldest pool hall in the city. After entering the storefront at 561 Main St., walk down two flights and it's like a scene out of The Hustler. Twenty-three billiard tables sit in a room surrounded by stale green walls. It's a subterranean parlor where, on any given night, sharks and novices alike cue up to practice their best shot.

Robert Higginbottom is the proprietor. He's owned the place for six years and worked it for 20. He says business was great for the first 18, but two years ago, when the construction of the Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts began, it went south. Elite Billiards is right next to the Hanover, a $31 million project, set to open March 14. Higginbottom says construction "just about put us out of business. We are off 45% since they started. I was here when the Showcase [Cinema (and former Loew's Poli Palace)] was still open. We had a real good business going. I paid off the pool room in three years. Then this thing came along."

As the theater prepares for its opening, that part of Main into Southbridge Street is currently only open to one-way traffic. With Jersey barriers separating lanes, one lane is now a hard-hat area, effectively eliminating customer parking in front of the businesses. 

One of the Hanover Theater neighbors affected at 551-561 Main St.

"It's done a number on the whole neighborhood," Higginbottom says. "We will never get that back and the city won't do a damn thing. In fact, three businesses have gone out in the last six months. I put almost $18,000 in in the last year and a half just to keep [the pool hall] open, hoping that once this mess is over we will get back to normal."

Elite Billiards rents its space in the Goral Building, a two-story structure built in 1925 that runs from 551-561 Main St. It is owned by Anthony and Helen Goral, trustees of Drury Realty Trust, which operates Goral Opticians on the corner of Main and Federal streets.

For years, mom-and-pop operations have lined the street. Currently, along with the pool hall and the opticians, what's left is a Vietnamese nail salon, a hip-hop barbershop and an African hair salon. Earlier this year, it was announced that the Gorals had entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with Edward Madaus and Paul Demoga, the organizers of the theater's revitalization.

"Our main goal is to clean up the building, to modernize it, and complement the theater," Madaus says. "At this point it doesn't. We think that it cries out for a restaurant on the first floor."

Demoga agrees. "The area has to have a restaurant. There really isn't one down there now [unless you consider Ding Ho, the White Tower or the Red Baron]. We figure it is going to be about 6,000 [square] feet, which would be a pretty good-sized restaurant. It's not going to be a white table cloth place, but something where the theater crowd could park once, go have dinner and then go to a show."

When asked if they would be the owners, Demoga says, "We haven't decided how we would like to handle that. We need to acquire the building first. We've had contractors in there to give us some estimates. We still have to get our banking package in place. We have our business plan done. We need to close around April 30. We plan on acquiring it then."

As for Higginbottom, he says he was aware of the potential sale but no one has spoken to him directly. "Hopefully we can stay, but if they take over the building and decide they don't want the pool room down there, I'm done," he says. o