Beach Bar Clark Lake Shuffleboard Table and Bar Restoration

We were honored to help with the Beach Bar Clark Lake shuffleboard table restoration and its recent remodel. The COVID situation caused significant disruption to the marketplace, especially for small businesses. The hardest hit were restaurants and bars. The Beach Bar & Restaurant , 3505 Ocean Beach Road, reopened on Wednesday, April 7, after closing in  November 2020.  At the time, Owner John Collins described the hiatus as “taking a break,” and a Facebook announcement mentioned the difficulty of operating a business during the COVID-19 pandemic. But regulars may be surprised when they head back in for the first time. Be ach Bar management took four months to make renovations inside and expansions to the outside patios, all while maintaining the restaurant’s classic character. John contacted us to restore the Beach Bar Clark Lake Shuffleboard Table , an original Rock-Ola Antique Shuffleboard table that has been in the bar since it was started. This was the second time the table had been restored, and it was originally put in the bar by John's grandfather. Founders of the Beach Bar, Harry & Marie Collins, opened the bar in July of 1946. Rock-Ola Shuffleboard tables were made in 1948 and 1949, so the table we were honored to restore was installed in the bar brand-new. Below is a picture of Marie Collins playing shuffleboard on the original table.

In 1959, the bar was sold after thirteen years under Harry & Marie Collins' management, making the Beach Bar a popular bar and restaurant. The bar was then re-acquired by Harry and Marie’s son, Tom, and his wife, Peggy, in 1976, and brought the Beach Bar back to its former glory and popularity. The Beach Bar has flourished for over seventy years under the Collins Family’s ownership and management, in conjunction with literally hundreds of staff, both past and present, and is currently owned and operated by Tom and Peggy’s son, John, shown below beside the newly restored Rock-Ola Beach Bar Clark Lake Shuffleboard Table.

McClure Tables sells restored Rock-Ola Shuffleboard Tables on their website, and we also restore many antique tables. We often restore just the playboard, but we can also do the entire table. The one area we are not experts in is the restoration of electromechanical score units. We can restore the wood cabinet, but on the inside, you need to find someone who can fix antique pinball machines or old electromechanical equipment. We were honored to bring back to life this antique Rock-Ola shuffleboard table owned by three generations of Collins at the Beach Bar in Clark Lake, Michigan. Here are some pictures of some different Rock-Ola Tables before and during restorations. These were not necessarily the original Beach Bar Clark Lake shuffleboard. Just a few examples of before images showing how we can restore a rough or unrestored Rock-Ola to its original beauty.