Say It Ain’t So: Rogers Rec is Closing?
From time to time here at the flyer, we get an anonymous tip, and more often than not they turn out to be right on.
This time, we hope the rumors aren’t true, but we have a strong suspicion that there is some fire beneath all that smoke. (Get it?)
Word on the street is Fayetteville’s favorite pickled egg dealer Rogers Rec is going to close it’s doors.
After years of being the only bar open at 8:00 am for all the third-shifters just getting off work and needing a “nightcap” to the place any serious alcoholic starts and finishes his day, Rogers Rec is the grossest / most awesome bar on Dickson St.
It’s the only thing left of the old Dickson St, the one before the Walton Arts center was built. The Dickson St. that existed before Stir replaced Chesters. The one where if you weren’t armed, you might just not want to venture down there. When Fayetteville was still funky.
I’m not nostalgic for the unsafe Dickson that existed back in those days, but it does make me a little sad to think that old Rogers Rec might be closing it’s doors. It’s been rumored for months that the place was for sale, and I strongly suspect that someone out there is going to confirm this rumor tomorrow in some way or another.
So wake up early tomorrow, stop off at old RR before work and raise your glass to another chunk of Fayetteville history becoming, well, history.
Discussion
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By yrfuneralmytrial on September 9th, 2008
Never a regular at RR but jeez, that’s a big bummer. They’ve won.
By Angel Lust on September 9th, 2008
Yet another reason not to go downtown. I’m no student but it seems that Dickson St is pricing itself out of a typical student’s range? True?
I am hoping that more student friendly atmosphere might pop up SW of the the campus. There are some decent bars/restaurants there now and some empty storefronts waiting to be filled.
And yeah, I know, there’s a Chik-Fil-A there.
Where do students go these days?
By jones on September 9th, 2008
This would be a bummer.
By kasey on September 9th, 2008
Nooooooooo!
By Nards on September 9th, 2008
No more pickled eggs and dollar beer on Dickson St.. Well, at least Maxine’s is still open.
Having bars on sixth street is a terrible idea!
By The Truth on September 9th, 2008
Students? No one cares about them! If you don’t own a condo, you don’t have any right to be on Dickson Street. Period.
By yrfuneralmytrial on September 9th, 2008
“Yet another reason not to go downtown. I’m no student but it seems that Dickson St is pricing itself out of a typical student’s range? True?”
-There are still plenty of places to buzz up on the cheap.
By Boggy Creek Creature on September 9th, 2008
It’s what you get when some trust fund baby with no management experience buys up one of Fayetteville’s institutions.
How stupid do you have to be to run the Rec into the ground? The Rec, of all places! You’ve got a built-in customer base that’s been coming there, drinking the same beer and sitting on the same stool for generations!
I just hope someone buys it up who’ll respect it. After all, where are Fayetteville’s homeless going to go?
By Sardon on September 9th, 2008
I’ve been missing the old Roger’s since Roger sold it to Shitty in April, 1987. Sure, Shitty kept it sleazy, but Roger took all the character with him. Took it all the way to his grave. Shitty sold the pool hall to a rich kid a few years ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the novelty has worn off for him.
Where will those people go now? The barrio of Springdale? Long walk.
I turned in my “regular” card in 1987, but I’m still sad to see the remnants of what was once a place with a real sense of community, as Rev. Gary Lunsford explained so eloquently at Roger’s funeral, die completely. Roger’s once made Playboy magazine, described as a place where a billionaire would sit next to a hippie, sitting next to a hard hat, sitting next to a student, sitting next to a professor, and they could all have a conversation.
Raise a glass indeed.
By Total Bastard on September 9th, 2008
This city needs an alternative to Dickson.
The Mill District had potential, but its trying too hard and rents are too high. La Maison de Tarte? Do what? Wilmas sucks ass.
We need someplace for a few rowdy townie bars and some good live music venues.
A lot of stuff moving out to College Ave in recent years, but its just not walkable out there.
HEY COODY!! We need sidewalks out here on College Avenue!
KTHXBAI.
By Sardon on September 9th, 2008
Bastardo, don’t you know that Evelyn Hills is the new Dickson Street? They got everything out there. Long walk, though.
And no awesome 6th St. Chik-Fil-A.
By chris-os on September 9th, 2008
A few weeks ago I heard they were splitting Roger’s in half. One half will continue to normal Roger’s Rec and the other will be a bit of a fancy spot, maybe like stir or the beer keg. I hope I didn’t just repeat what someone else said because I didn’t read all the posts yet.
By Roberto Campana on September 9th, 2008
Hey Total Bastard, what the fuck are you talking about, Wilma’s sucks ass? Are you vegan? Got something against collard greens or catfish? Are you a yankee or midwesterner who’s never heard of okra? I’m just curious as to which menu items you tried there that “suck ass.”
KTHXBAI
By Boggy Creek Creature on September 9th, 2008
Roberto-
Total Bastard is quite true to his name, but I must agree: Wilma’s is crap. If the only thing that salvages a meal is the strawberry cake, then I’ll pass.
And go on south to Mama Dean’s.
By chris-os on September 9th, 2008
Now I hear the remodeling is happening right after Bkies ,blues etc. They are going to close for two weeks during construction and reopen with two separate bars one being roger’s rec or roger’s rec style and the other fancy style , but that seems awfully quick. That’s just a guess. yep. We’re talking two more restrooms and another bar and plubming and electric and vibe-addition. That will take time.
By Total Bastard on September 9th, 2008
Roberto:
I like southern food. I like soul food. I like all kinds of food. I’m a big fat bastard.
I don’t like it served looking like high school cafeteria food, soggy soupy and gross.
Wilma’s is a wreck. I’m sure many who have been there (and have no stake in the matter) will agree.
It’ll be gone soon enough.
Hopefully much sooner than Roger’s Rec.
By Total Bastard on September 9th, 2008
@chris-oh:
Oh god, all we need is another pretentious spot like the Beer Keg.
By Angel Lust on September 9th, 2008
Totally agree with TB on this one. More college bars. Less hipster hangouts.
And more music venues.
By yrfuneralmytrial on September 10th, 2008
“other will be a bit of a fancy spot, maybe like stir or the beer keg”
-Not sure if this was a joke or a mistake. All I know is it’s the best damn line I’ve heard today! Those fancy bastards over at the Beer Keg ain’t going to like hearing there’s new competition coming their way.
By Total Bastard on September 10th, 2008
In other news, those looking for a down and dirty townie spot, the newish Cheers at College and Sycamore fits the bill.
The last few bars through there have catered to different ethnic crowds and wound up violent or dead.
Cheers has karaoke and cheap cold beer. Burgers, too.
Its kind of like Art’s Place south, minus pool, add karaoke.
By b on September 10th, 2008
chris-os is two for two… samething i heard! right after bbbbq…oh, and i heard they’re changing their liquor licence and will no longer be a package ‘to-go’ store!!!! no late night beer to go! that sucks! the liquor store close before i get off work during the week..
By East Springdale Ear on September 10th, 2008
well if anybodey nows when they close if they want somebodey to take those left over pikkled egs off theyre hands, ill be more then happy to.
By Urk on September 11th, 2008
So sad to hear this…& I appreciate your tribute to the pool hall, but this: “The one where if you weren’t armed, you might just not want to venture down there. When Fayetteville was still funky. I’m not nostalgic for the unsafe Dickson that existed back in those days..” really overstates how unsafe Dickson ever was, & draws on a couple of pretty random dramatic events in a way that obscures the effects of both economic changes and fatcat maneuvers in the transformation of the street. The myth that Dickson street was truly dangerous was part of the rationale for the efforts to turn it first into an arty retail district and then (more successfully) into a franchise of Generic College Party Street USA. I hate to see that narrative repeated in an otherwise nicely done article.
Anyway, whether it still has its original soul or not, the pool hall is the last vestige of the old street. I wish i’d dropped in when I visted this summer. I love that some of y’all are looking for a new part of town to take over its functions. I don’t know if that’s possible in Fayetteville’s geography. It’d be especially hard to duplicate the surrounding areas that nurtured Dickson.
By Angel Lust on September 11th, 2008
I still miss the Hofbrau.
By Megan on September 13th, 2008
THANK YOU URK!!!!!
Dickson street was not that unsafe.Those claims have been greatly exaggerated. If you enjoyed talking and laughing with fellow human beings, drinking a bottle of cheap wine with a stranger and ducking down an alley way to get high you know and love the old Dickson…and always music in the air, some good, some bad but live music none the less.. Great music most of the time in fact! And some folks didn’t even have to drink and smoke to enjoy the old Dickson st, they skated and rebelled in their own way.. It is such a shame that the gentrification and homogenization has taken over this last working class watering hole. It is a real shame…
By yrfuneralmytrial on September 14th, 2008
Megan - Agreed and I always wince when those that were NOT there describe old Dickson as some sort of hellhole overun with dope, guns & fucking in the streets. You can’t buy cool no matter how much money you have.
By John A Arkansawyer on September 14th, 2008
I see Urk beat me to it. Fact is, Dickson Street is considerably more dangerous now than it ever was (which it wasn’t, really) in the past. It just isn’t to any rich person’s profit to publicize the fact. On the other hand, it is more likely to inspire me to song than it ever was:
Dickson Street, oh, Dickson Street
Where the frat-rat fuckers and sorowhores meet
They circle up the jerk to suck on Tyson’s meat
Those shit-suck fuckers on Dickson Street.
If anyone would like the chords, let me know. I’ve got a million of ‘em.
By John A Arkansawyer on September 14th, 2008
Nostalgia kills, so I ought to be in sympathy with this:
“I’m not nostalgic for the unsafe Dickson that existed back in those days”
But I’m not, because the “unsafe Dickson” part is just not true. I say this as someone who spent most of his life, from the late seventies through the mid-nineties living within three blocks of Dickson Street, and five of those years writing about the Dickson Street music scene.
I remember when Lee Durkee got mugged in ‘86 (’85?). It caused a stir, because no one could remember anyone ever getting mugged on Dickson Street.
When I was back in town this weekend, I heard two reports of people being mugged recently. Of course, those are anecdotal, but I do think it’d be interesting to go through the crime reports with an eye toward lies, damn lies, statistics, and better statistics as the remedy.
By Ashley on September 14th, 2008
I agree - Dickson street wasn’t dangerous back in the day! I spent a lot of time wandering up and down as a teenage girl and never felt the least bit threatened. I can’t say the same of it when I go there now.
By cnixon on September 15th, 2008
“Now I hear the remodeling is happening right after Bkies ,blues etc. They are going to close for two weeks during construction and reopen with two separate bars one being roger’s rec or roger’s rec style and the other fancy style , ”
They will NEVER get rid of the Pee and smoke smell.. the place is, happily, ruined!
By zh on September 18th, 2008
It will take them months to get all the chrome, concrete and flourescent lights it takes to make a new Dickson st. bar. At least they are leaving us a small portion of the dirty past. Our hole in the wall is getting smaller, but at least its still there. I miss Hoffbrau also. That entire street (Center St. I think?) would be a perfect alternative to Dickson St. if there were a couple more places open past 8:00. The square and the small streets that lead to it are perfect for smaller, older feeling bars and restaurants. OPO is ok, but we need some smaller places where the rent is affordable. I know bars have failed there in the past, but maybe someday they will revitalize that area and the square can be the part of town with character.
By Total Bastard on September 18th, 2008
I am having a hard time imagining how you fit two entire bars into that space.
Are the unwashed going to have their own entrance?
By George on September 18th, 2008
Ashley - You shouldn’t mention the words “tennage girl” in any thread that East Springdale Earl is associated with. It gets him all worked up.
If I could keep just one bar on Dickson it would be the Rec. It’s a place where pretentiousness and delusions of grandeur have long since given way to alcoholism and acceptance. There’s something comforting about that.
At least Maxine’s is still open.
By Barrett Bishop on September 30th, 2008
I got my ass kicked there one night. And almost a lot worse!! But it does have good memories for me.
By Phil King on October 17th, 2008
It’s a sad day when Roger’s closes. I was a regular there in 1992-1993 when J.R worked the bar. The place was full of characters just like ‘Cheers’. Pool and shuffle board accompanied by a pitcher of Busch, a great way to end the day!! I hope someone sees sense and takes it over. Long live Roger’s Rec!!
By Boggy Creek Creature on October 17th, 2008
It’s not out of business, just closed from remodeling. The whole thing will be divided into two parts. The Dickson street side will be a “Stir” kind of bar (i was just talking about how there aren’t enough poseur bars in this town) and the backside will remain in the style of the Rec.
By Phil King on October 18th, 2008
Okay, so it’s gonna be another up market yuppy bar on one side, with the Rec hidden out back. It’s the same old story even in England. Any ‘pub’ with a bit of character gets the make over and it just ain’t the same. Call it progress, thanks but no thanks!!
By Total Bastard on October 18th, 2008
Its a shame.
The townies need to take over Maxines. Back in the 60s thats who went there anyway.
By Boggy Creek Creature on October 18th, 2008
Block Street does seem to be the last refuge for the townies.
Seems like everything’s cheaper, the people more interesting, and the occasional joint passed around. What more do you need?
By DAVE TORRES on November 24th, 2008
by DAVE-O- on nov.24 08—-Rogers Rec could have stayed the same! BUT- the fact is- the people who loved it sooooo much !f#ed it and left it like a whore! rather than a friend with benifits!!! where did you go? over the last TEN years ive only seen a handful of hardcore friends of the pool hall hanging out there. as for the rest– F# YOU! DRINK YOUR BEER AT HOME in front of your tv,s computers and pictures of the old days! dickson st. mite have new paint,faces,and beers but- thats where youll find this crazy motherf#er ! - ( CHEERS!) - DAVE-O-