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It
doesn't take a rocket scientist to design
the perfect poolroom. But does it take a nuclear engineer?
Perhaps -- if the nuclear engineer happens to be Chet Itow, owner
of California Billiard Club in Mountain View, Calif. Drop by Itow's
poolroom and you'll see pool engineering at work. After 20 years
in the nuclear-reactor business, Itow knows a thing or two about
attention to detail. The formula for the perfect poolroom begins,
of course, with the tables: 30 Brunswick Gold Crown III tables,
2 Verhoeven heated-slate three-cushion tables, and 2 Riley English
snooker tables. Like any good scientist, Itow thoroughly researches
his projects. Itow estimates that he spent three and a half years
scouring the northern California real-estate market until he found
the right place for his poolroom. The perfect place turned out to
be a 14,500 square-foot former car dealership in Mountain View.
Part of the "Silicon Valley," Mountain View is home to
some of the most successful electronics and aerospace companies
in the world. But as soon as the former engineer found the right
space, he had to debug a serious problem: How could he convince
the reluctant owner of the space that his poolroom wouldn't bring
in the wrong element? "It took me a year to negotiate with
the landlord," Itow says. "He kept saying, 'Not a chance.'
I had to take him out to all the upscale rooms in the area so he'd
see what pool was like in the '90s. It took a while, but 1 finally
convinced him." With that out of the way, Itow began working
with architect Alan Toma on the layout. Itow knew that his regular
customers would be Silicon Valley professionals, so he carefully
crafted California Billiard Club to their exacting specifications.
"Over the years, I've found that I have the worst taste in
the world," Itow says. "So I interviewed people. I asked
them what they were really looking for in a poolroom." To get
more raw data, Itow and Toma visited every poolroom in San Francisco
and the Santa Clara Valley. Itow kept notes about all the rooms,
listing their strengths and weaknesses. "We (Itow and Toma)
spent four to five months just talking design," Itow says.
"We kept shaking it out until we got it right:" It took
a lot of shaking.
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Another problem for the engineer to troubleshoot: How do you create
a space that is attractive to both serious and recreational players?
"A lot of the owners 1 talked to told me I had to build a separate
room for the serious players and the professionals," Itow says.
"But I wanted the non-pros to be able to see the professionals,
to see how pool should be played." Rather than divide the different
skill levels, Itow decided to set aside 3500 square feet and eight
of his tables for the serious players. He made sure to keep wide spacing
between tables in this area (seven to eight feet) so that each game
would stay private. Games stay private, but less experienced players
can still watch the pros play. Itow built a 3,000 square-foot elevated
seating area (enough space for 100 spectators) around the playing
area. The extra spectator space is always filled during tournaments.
California Billiard Club hosts three open tournaments a week. Itow
even engineered the carpet. He had custom carpenters cut a 14-foot
wide eightball design into the carpeting near the center of the room.
But it couldn't be just any eightball. Itow wanted a Brunswick Centennial
eightball. Itow and Toma went so far as to measure the number 8 on
an actual Brunswick Centennial ball to make sure the carpet design
would be proportionally correct. Itow wisely defers management of
California Billiard Club's bar and grill to his wife Sarah. Her menu
has all the staples: pizza, burgers, sandwiches, you name it. Sarah's
menu also features a wide variety of Asian dishes. Itow, a Japanese-American,
swears by them. "A lot of people just come for the rice dishes;"
Itow says. "I have the teriyaki chicken every night." It's
not rocket science, but there definitely is a science to opening an
attractive, functional poolroom. Someday Itow would like to teach
that science to others, as a consultant. For now, though, Itow is
going to take it easy. He's got all the local professional players
asking to be his house pro. He's booking all the local business parties.
On the weekends, he has people coming in from two to three hours away
to see California Billiard Club. "They come and tell me this
is the best billiard room they've ever seen," Itow says proudly.
Attention to detail --whether you're trying to generate electricity
or generate compliments from the local pool community -- always brings
rewards.
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