Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I was never sure what this small building on the way into Lexington was, but it seems it was a pool hall and music venue. Based on what I see from google, I believe the owner unfortunately passed away in December of 2017.

I noticed this vacant pool hall on Sunset near New Brookland Baptist a week or so ago. They list in this years phonebook, and I think it would have caught my eye if it had been closed earlier, so I'm going with "Early 2017" for the closing date.

That's one buff & veiny looking chicken...

UPDATE 12 April 2017: I had the closing as "Early 2017" since they are in the Feb 2017 phonebook, but based on the comments, I've put the date back to 2014, which is quite a difference!

By this point, the fact that Jillian's in the Vista has closed their doors has been pretty extensively discussed in Have Your Say. I believe I had been there twice: Once for a class reunion, and once for a Swimming Pool Qs show. We were supposed to have a family event there about two years ago, but it turned out to be too crowded, and we ended up at Mellow Mushroom. About all I can recall from the times I was there was that it was too loud and busy to ever be a regular spot for me.

The State lays the closing at the feet of the Great Flood of 2015, saying that the 10 day closing and coverage denial by business interruption insurance sealed the deal. Commenters here tend to favor an accumulating straw theory in which the one which broke the camel's back would have come soon one way or the other.

(Hat tip to commenter April)

Read the rest of this entry »

For many years this was Decker Billiard Club. It closed briefly and re-opened, probably unintentionally, as Decker Billaid.

I drove by recently and noticed the place is now a latin club called Serena Lounge.

The first phonebook listing I find for The Tremont Motor Inn is in the July 1958 book where the address is given simply as Hwy No 21 Cayce and the phone number is the old style AL 4-5121.

Later phonebooks would give the address with more specificity as 111 Knox Abbott Drive and update the phone number to 254-5121.

From its inception through 1984 the Tremont did not purchase a Yellow Page ad. In fact, the first one that I saw was in the February 1985 phonebook. This one, pictured above, gave the new phone number as 796-6240, indicating, I believe, a change of ownership.

The last listing I saw for the Tremont was in the February 1994/1995 phonebook. This was followed by the first listing for the Riverside Inn in the February 2002/2003 book, leaving an eight year gap. I presume the building was run under another flag during those years, but I would have to consult a city directory to find what it was, and did not have time on my last visit to the library.

The building was in a great location on a large property close to the river with a park-like expanse of walking paths, and I suppose it was quite nice for many years. Unfortunately, by the time my cousin booked a room in the fall of 2013 (to be close to USC for some seminars), she found it dirty and run-down to the point that she felt unsafe.

The actual tear down was quite leisurely, extending over a period of about four months. On my initial walk-through, I was unsure how much of the property was actually the motel, as there were some buildings out back that appeared to be in use by other businesses, but in the event it appears everything was demolished. For some reason, every time I went out to get pictures, I either got there late just as the sun was fading, or the day would be heavily overcast. There are a few bright shots, but that was the exception.

I'm not quite sure what the green carpeted area by the pool was. It almost looked like the motel had a little putting green, but I didn't see a hole there. Of course now the whole place is more or less a hole...

29 September 2014:

7 October 2014:

29 November 2014:

26 December 2014:

UPDATE 2 February 2015 -- Commenter TahoeChic pointed out an old Tremont postcard on Ebay, which I have bought and scanned, putting the image at the top of the page. Notice the differences in the property from the time of the postcard (which gives the "AL" prefix phone number, so it probably dates from the early 1960s) to now. For instance the big roadside sign was gone, the short brick wall along Knox Abbott drive had yet to be build, there was a canopy in the parking lot, the pool area was not enclosed and had a diving board, and it does not appear the the final front-office building had been built.

Commenter fourlizards found a Tremont key and took a picture, I have added that under the postcard.

Photosets:

Photoset 28 September 2014

Photoset 7 October 2014

Photoset 19 October 2014

Photoset 29 November 2014

Photoset 26 December 2014

Commenter James points out that this recreational equipment and fixture store on US-1 near I-26 has closed. I have to admit that it was never on my radar screen as I can't imagine buying anything along those lines. I guess this was not a sentiment unique to me..

(Hat tip to commenter James)

Every now and then, I go down Afton Court for the theater at the bottom of the street, which sometimes seems to have slightly different selections from most in town. Nonetheless, I was pretty much unaware that there was a Restaurant/Pool Hall just a little up from there. According to their closing sign, Bailey's had been there 18 years, which is a pretty good run, especially with all the turnover on Columbiana Drive.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

This building just north of I-20 at the corner of Fairfield & Sharpe Roads has apparently been quite a number of things according to google, though mostly iterations of bar/restaurant and grocery. Brown's was the last tenant, or at least anyone after them never repainted, but I cannot find any active listing in my 1997 or 2007-2012 phonebooks, so I'm just leaving the closing date as "2000s".

The lot is a little bit overgrown, but the building still seems to be in pretty good shape. It wouldn't surprise me for somebody else to give it a go here.

I really like the sign here at the former WECO Billiards. It has a similar aesthetic to Varsity Billiards and Red Wing Rollerway.

This site for the current owners of the building (note the clever URL) says it was built originally as a grocery. It was still operating as a billiard hall in the February 1997 phonebook, but by the time of the next one I have here at home (February 2007), the listing was gone. Since then it appears to have been a thrift store, and now houses a number of operations as detailed at the previous link.

This little storefront next to Mr. B's has been a number of things over the years.

In 1999, it was apparently a pool hall called Rookie Billiards, which applied for a beer and wine permit, unsuccessfully.

Most recently, it was Gardenia's Restaurant, and appears in this year's phonebook. I don't know when exactly it closed, but there are still chairs and tables inside.