By FRED KRONER
During a time when businesses are closed and closing, one Mahomet resident is looking forward to opening a new business.
Ellis Donley has been repairing and renovating a building he bought on Lincoln street (near Main) with plans of returning a pool hall to the community.
He doesn’t have a firm date for the grand opening, but said “with a solid week or two of work, I’ll be totally done with the building.”
The before and after views will be stunning.
“It was a total wreck when I got it,” said Donley, who has done the majority of the carpentry work. “I didn’t change the way it was laid out. I just repaired it.”
Donley purchased the building – which is next door to one he owns where his daughter Kelsie Briggs operates Salon 105 – with a pool hall as his goal.
“I’ve been working on this for two years on my leisure time,” he said. “I grew up (in Golconda) where every town you went to had a pool hall.
“Every night, kids would play pool or Foosball. Mahomet doesn’t have anything for kids to do.”
Rather than bemoan the lack of opportunities, the retired Kraft employee set out to change the community’s landscape.
“I thought it would be nice to have this in Mahomet,” he said. “I always wanted a place where I could sit and watch kids play, and teach kids how to play.
“I want to give kids something to do.”
Many details remain to be finalized, but Donley hopes to offer snacks such as packaged chips and candy as well as soda.
“I’m looking into getting a pop machine,” he said.
Donley is a pool aficionado who has 44 years of experience and plays in a local pool league with nearly three dozen other people. That winter league will relocate to Mahomet.
“I’ve played about all my life,” he said. “It’s a passion.”
The most recent part of his project at 103 S. Lincoln is a patio that is on the west side of the building.
“There will be church pews for people to sit in, an outdoor fan and maybe a pool table,” Donley said. “There will be a table where you can eat lunch.
“It will be open to anybody. Whoever wants to walk up and sit down can.”
Donley has eight Valley pool tables, but not all will be put to use. He anticipates installing five or six inside his building, but may upgrade to Diamond tables.
The difference in the tables, he said, is comparable to “a VW vs. a Rolls.”
A pool hall was a fixture in the downtown sector of Mahomet for nearly half a century, but has now been gone for almost 50 years.
Donley and his wife, Mollie, have plans for the northern outside brick portion of the building, which is viewable from Main St.
“We have been talking about going to the school and have the art class have a drawing contest and the winner paint a mural on the side of the building about the town of Mahomet,” Ellis Donley said.
Don’t look for a fancy name for the establishment.
“Pool Hall would be fine,” Donley said.
While he hopes the venture will be a success, he’s not seeking a get-rich quick scheme.
“I’m not looking at it to make a living,” Donley said. “As long as it pays for itself, I’m happy.
“It’s my little retirement program.”
this is really Great. I visit Mahomet about 2 months a year and usually drive into Champaign to play at Jupiters. I live in the Philippines and pool here is very popular when I go to Champaign I am amazed on the amount of pool players. So now I will play in Mahomet.. Great idea and good luck to you