The former Pottsville Club will soon become The Lodge at Sharp Mountain, one of the new owners said Wednesday.
“We talked it out. We were trying to think of names. It took probably two months to come up with the name. Obviously, we’re on Sharp Mountain, and this used to be a ski lodge. And we want to keep the place at its roots,” Keith Maley, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, said.
While he and his father, Robert Maley, Port Carbon, are still closing the deal with the city to buy the former club at 201 S. 26th St., they have come up with a name for the catering business they want to open there.
“Our game plan is to bring jobs to the area,” Maley said.
The Pottsville Club opened at 100 S. Centre St. in 1888. In 1910, it moved to 314 Mahantongo St., according to “Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County,” published in 1936.
On June 4, 1975, the Pottsville Club bought the 11.93-acre property at 201 S. 26th St., according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.
The building was erected in 1965, according to the parcel locator.
The Pottsville Club closed Oct. 8, 2013, after 125 years in business. In February 2014, Miners Bank bought the property at a sheriff’s sale for $1,418.05. In December 2014, the bank donated it to the city.
Then, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Pottsville accepted the responsibility of managing it and reported that upkeep would cost in the neighborhood of $50,000 a year.
In early February, the Maleys committed to buy the property for about $230,000, according to City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar. On Feb. 4, Mayor James T. Muldowney introduced them as the new owners during his State of the City speech at the venue.
Keith Maley said he expects the closing will occur “within a few weeks.”
The Maleys have acquired a liquor license. On Wednesday, a bright orange public notice of application was posted on a wooden sign in front of the landmark chunk of anthracite coal in front of the former club.
It states “KB&B Enterprises LLC dba The Lodge at Sharp Mountain” acquired the license from Maroons Sports Bar LLC.
So far, the Maleys have hired one full-time employee, a manager for The Lodge at Sharp Mountain, Tami Davies-Coleman, Bern Township, Berks County.
“And we are looking for a full-time food and beverage manager and a full-time event coordinator,” he said.
Plus, the Maleys plan to have a number of part-time positions available, including bartenders, wait staff members and housekeepers.
He said The Lodge at Sharp Mountain will have a table set up at the T-102/PA CareerLink Job & Career Fair, which is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 30 at Fairlane Village mall, Pottsville.
Once the deal to buy the property is closed, the Maleys will bring in contractors to clean up the property.
On Wednesday, Keith Maley said he would like to keep the vintage seats and tables in the former club’s two dining rooms.
“We’re trying to keep as much as we can. So we’re probably just going to have them cleaned up. We’re also going to stain the deck and do the parking lot,” he said.
Previously, the dining room upstairs was known as The English Room, and the dining room downstairs was The John O’Hara Room.
Maley was not sure if the names would stick.
“I think we’re going to leave some of the Pottsville Club stuff there just as a reminder. We’re in the process of working on a marketing strategy,” he said.
Maley didn’t have an exact date for the opening of the catering hall Wednesday.
“It will be within weeks,” he said.
The Lodge at Sharp Mountain is booking events now. For information, call 570-622-0622 or email thelodgeatsharpmountain@comcast.net.