Since 1978
We opened on Peach Street in 1978. The name comes from the tables.
47 years on Peach Street
Every regulation table in here is a real Brunswick Gold Crown. That is where the name comes from.
Andy’s came in 1985 and the Bullfrog in 2008, so the building grew around the floor rather than the other way round. The pockets are still cut tight and the slate is still levelled on a schedule. That part has not moved since the first night.
Photos
Tap a photo to see all of it.
Our sign on Peach Street. Putting the new sign up in 2010.
Howard Vickery took the first Tri-State Open in 1986. Pat Howie won the second, a year later.
The 1986 Tri-State Open
Seventy-two players came in September 1986. These are photographs from it.
“Crazy Frank” Piasecki, Buffalo NY “Crazy Frank” Piasecki, Buffalo NY Dave Daya, Mt. Carmel PA Dennis Hatch, Buffalo NY Don Blevins, Warren OH Ernie “The Jeweler” Lorelli, Indiana PA Gary Pinkowski, Binghamton NY Gary Spaeth, Cincinnati OH Gary Spaeth, Cincinnati OH Howard Vickery, Columbus OH Jerry Rauenzahn, Warren PA Joe Kerr, Akron OH Mark Maryo, Cleveland OH Mike Gulyassy, Cleveland OH Pat Howie, Rochester NY Pat Howie, Rochester NY Phil Fasciana, Buffalo NY Ron Casanzio, Rochester NY Steve McAninch, Toledo OH
What happened, and when
1978
We open
December 2, 1978. We open in 2,800 square feet of the new Colonial Plaza at Peach and 38th, with twelve nine-foot Gold Crown tables. A partners handicap nine-ball league runs in the winter, a singles league in the summer.
1981
Irving Crane plays here
Irving Crane, World Champion and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer, plays an exhibition here.
1982
Danny DiLiberto visits
Danny DiLiberto puts on a show. Road players come through Erie in those years: Earl Strickland, Bob Ogborn, Marvin Henderson, Bugs Rucker.
1985
Andy's opens next door
Andy's opens in the space beside us, named after our first food service manager, Andrew DiVecchio. We still use Drew's recipes.
1986
Steve Mizerak's exhibition
Steve Mizerak plays a game of straight pool with Erie's own Julius Cottman, then a run of trick shots.
1986
The first Tri-State Open
September 1986. Seventy-two players, triple elimination, a $75 entry and $5,000 in prizes. Howard Vickery of Columbus, OH wins it.
1987
Pat Howie wins
Pat Howie of Rochester, NY wins our 1987 nine-ball tournament.
1998
We double in size
We buy our section of the plaza, and Andy's and the pool room double to 10,000 square feet. We now have 24 tables over five rooms: a sunken room, a balcony, the bar, a high-ceilinged main room and a front room.
2008
The Bullfrog, and the rest of the plaza
We buy the rest of Colonial Plaza. Bullfrog Bar goes in upstairs, a live music room with a 23-foot projection screen.
2010
The Tri-State Open goes quarterly
Four Tri-State Opens a year. Winter, Summer and Fall for players who haven't won a major, Spring open to the pros. The same year a crew of six puts up our 45-foot sign on Peach Street.
2013
The Schofield Event
From the Fall Tri-State Open on, we run Paul Schofield's format: quadruple elimination to qualify, then single elimination for the title.
2018
The City Tournament
The City of Erie Pocket Billiard Tournament starts, one season on regulation tables and one on bar tables, every player rated and seeded.
2020
The last quarterly Tri-State
The Winter 2020 Tri-State Open is the forty-first since 2010.
2021
The Greater Erie Tournament
The City Tournament becomes the Greater Erie Tournament, open to Erie, Crawford, Warren, Ashtabula and Chautauqua counties.
Today
Still on Peach Street
Seventeen regulation Gold Crown tables, the Greater Erie Tournament and our break-and-run pots. Still on Peach Street after 47 years.
If you have a photograph from any of these years, bring it in.