Smoking in the Pool Hall has finally stopped, and the Pool Hall managers have led a thorough cleanup effort to erase its remains. “About 12 people came to the pool hall the Wednesday of Spring Break to assist in the clean up effort,” says Pool Hall Manager Molly Kimball ’16. They weren’t necessarily regulars, Kimball explains, “most people were regular visitors to the Pool Hall who showed up because they cared about the place and saw that something was wrong.” They removed most traces of cigarettes in the Pool Hall but still had an intervening week before the county health inspector was to return.
“We were worried about people continuing to smoke in the pool hall after the clean up effort,” says Kimball. “I was in the Pool Hall for most of the week following the clean up making sure that everyone went outside if they wanted to smoke. Other Pool Hall regulars started to ask people to do the same, and when the inspector returned they were pleased with the changes.”
There were some who thought the Pool Hall managers had given into outside pressures and not maintained the sanctity of the Pool Hall. “They don’t think that it was brought about for the right reasons,” says Kimball, “but people didn’t realize that it was not just administrative pressure that forced the changes, but the negative effect on the community. People have now stopped smoking the Pool Hall and we’ve created an atmosphere where it is no longer socially acceptable.”
However, since the changes to the Pool Hall have been made, attendance has decreased. The Saturday night preceding Pool Hall formal at midnight, when it usually difficult to find a table due to people getting extra practice in before the tournament, there were two people in the Pool Hall. It is unclear whether these changes can be completely attributed to changes in Pool Hall policy or if they are also affected by the possible increase in workload at this time of the semester.
“Some people are less inclined to go down there because they used it as a place to smoke inside,” says Kimball, “but people shouldn’t be using it as a place to smoke—they should be using it to play pool. Some people might not realize that the changes to the Pool Hall have actually been having an effect and have not started to take advantage of a smoke-free pool hall.”
The Pool Hall managers are discussing more changes right now. Kimball says they are planning on “replacing couches, painting a new mural, getting better lighting and possibly a new speaker system.” They are also looking into more non-tournament events like movie nights, possibly getting a projector and playing the Hustler in the Pool Hall sometime soon.
“Hopefully a new set of social norms will be established for the incoming freshman next year and the pool hall can move forward,” Kimball says.