Popular Sacramento Pool Hall Reopens After ADA Lawsuit
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A popular Sacramento pool hall is back in business after it was shut down for three years over a controversial ADA lawsuit.
Customers at Jointed Cue Billiards have been waiting to chalk up for years.
"Three years, three months and two days," recalled longtime customer Tom McElheney.
That's how long the billiards hall has been closed after well-known attorney Scott Johnson filed an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit in 2018. At the time, Johnson had filed more than 2,000 cases in federal court dating back to 2004. The lawsuit was dropped when the business closed.
"Here, a great institution was prevented from opening and I felt like that was a huge loss," said McElheney.
Katy Damani took over ownership with her husband, a long-time player at the hall, after the business closed.
"There was just something about it, we can't let this be the destiny of a place like this," explained owner Katy Damani.
The couple along with another partner spent tens of thousands of dollars to take a shot at reopening. They opened their doors to customers this week for the first time.
The owners put in more than $70,000 on ADA renovations alone to widen the front door to accommodate wheelchairs, add lower countertops to eat at and expand two restrooms to allow for more space to move.
"It was all worth it to be able to do this, to see people in here enjoying a place that they have loved for the last 50 years or more," said Damani.
Shane McIntosh started working there as a teen in the 1990s. He stepped in to help, and he built the counters to help with renovations.
"When I heard that the place was for sure going to reopen, I was very quick to volunteer and come down here and lend a hand in any way," he said.
Now, he is back behind the counters serving up food to familiar faces.
"It means the world to me to see a lot of old faces, friends that I haven't seen in a couple years," said McIntosh. "It's a landmark that had to reopen."
It's new break Damani hopes will last.
"My hope and my dream is to have the past, present and future pool players for another 50 or more years to be able to come in and experience this place," she said.
