The Boston Licensing Board could decide tomorrow whether to let a proposed indoor pickleball emporium recreate the best of the Catskills or a cruise ship at an old factory building at Old Colony Avenue and C Street, where patrons could play pickleball, shuffleboard or cornhole, then retire to a cabana to cool down and get something to drink.
PKL wants to open in the old Cole-Hersee Building, using a liquor license it wants to buy from the shuttered Fleming's Steakhouse on Stuart Street.
"It's an alternative to the typical bar and restaurant that is prevalent in South Boston," PKL attorney Nicholas Zozula said. "There's nothing like it in South Boston, or perhaps even in the city of Boston."
Co-owner Brian Weller (right) would oversee a facility that could host up to 420 people at once - both people just walking in and leagues taking turns on the proposed five pickleball courts or taking it a bit easier on the shuffleboard and cornhole courts. Guests could choose between picnic tables, lounges and cabanas, Zozula said, adding the chef on site will be busy preparing everything from weekend brunches to tacos, flat breads and various shareable plates.
However, this being Massachusetts and all, Zozula said drinking would be limited to seating areas - no sipping a cocktail in one hand and trying to knock your opponent's pucks off the shuffleboard court with the other.
PKL has been operating indoor pickleball as a pop-up in Somerville's Assembly Road; the South Boston location would be permanent, at least as long as people still want to play pickleball indoors.