{"id":7277,"date":"2022-06-01T06:13:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T12:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/?p=7277"},"modified":"2022-06-01T06:14:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T12:14:41","slug":"shoot-stick-play-pinball-in-northwest-nebraska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/shoot-stick-play-pinball-in-northwest-nebraska\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoot stick, play pinball in Northwest Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Kerri Rempp<\/strong><\/p>

Discover Northwest Nebraska<\/strong><\/p>

Break a rack and avoid those gobble holes!<\/p>

With more than a century behind it, one Crawford building has received a facelift and is home to a new business that encourages kids and adults alike to put down their phones and enjoy simpler forms of entertainment.<\/p>

The Brick House Emporium opened in April in what has long been known as Old City Hall at 209 Elm St. in Crawford. Owner Nina Anderson has fond memories of spending time at The Chief in Crawford when she was growing up, settling into high-backed booths, playing pool or pinball and listening to music on the jukebox.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019d just set there for hours. Adults and kids hung out there all the time. I wanted to give Crawford a place like that back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ian Anderson makes use of the pool tables at the Brick House Emporium, a new addition to Northwest Nebraska, located in the Old City Hall in Crawford.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Anderson\u2019s career took her away from Crawford as an adult, though she returned to the area in 2002 to take a position in Scottsbluff before later moving to Kansas City. After 30 years with the Federal Aviation Administration, Anderson retired in 2019 and returned to Crawford, where her three sisters and son, Ian, who graduated from Crawford High School while she was stationed in Scottsbluff, still lived.<\/p>

The Northwest Nebraska community has tried to support a youth center in the past, but never quite succeeded, she said. Anderson, along with her son and Brittany Horan, set out to open a business that would provide a safe place for kids to hang out but also be a fun, relaxed, alcohol-free environment for people of all ages.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s just something Crawford needed,\u201d Nina Anderson said.<\/p>

The trio looked at a few buildings before settling on Old City Hall.<\/p>

\u201cWe figured it had more potential,\u201d said Ian Anderson, noting that in addition to the business, his mother also lives in the upper story of the building. \u00a0<\/p>

Constructed in 1914 for $12,800, the western half of Old City Hall was home to the city government offices, while the Crawford Fire Department occupied the east half from 1915 until the 1960s when it moved across the street. The Crawford Public Library also called the building home, moving into the second floor in 1965 for 20 years.<\/p>

The fire department\u2019s electric siren was installed in the building\u2019s cupola in 1930, replacing the original 1891 bell and the 1907 steam whistle.<\/p>

\u201cThe siren is still up there because it was too heavy to take down,\u201d Nina Anderson said. The city\u2019s abandoned jail cells still reside in the basement, as well. The building more recently has been home to an antique mall and a caf\u00e9.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Brittany Horan, who prepares the meals and cupcakes at Brick House Emporium, takes aim at a pool ball.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Nina Anderson tries her hand at pinball on a Lethal Weapon machine she rebuilt for the Brick House Emporium in Crawford\u2019s Old City Hall.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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With more than two years of sweat equity, the Andersons and Horan are proud to add the Brick House Emporium to the Old City Hall\u2019s history. Pool tables and pinball games, including a Lethal Weapon game they completely rebuilt, offer hours of entertainment while the jukebox plays in the background. Popcorn, snacks, and smoothies keep hunger at bay, and on Mondays Horan, a Scottsbluff native who has worked in delis and bakeries in the Panhandle, prepares and serves homestyle meals from 11 a.m. until the food runs out. She also offers specialty cupcakes every Wednesday.<\/p>

Though they haven\u2019t been open long, Ian Anderson said it\u2019s been amazing to see the community\u2019s reaction.<\/p>

\u201cThe community has been very supportive,\u201d Nina Anderson said.<\/p>

The building still needs additional renovation, including Anderson\u2019s living quarters, but when the group looks back over the last two years, they realize just how much they\u2019ve accomplished.<\/p>

While that old siren is still there, it\u2019s now been enclosed so birds and bats can\u2019t do any further damage. The building has been rewired and the power upgraded, and new windows, insulation and HVAC were installed. The roof on the small side of the building was redone, and one bathroom was converted into two. A kitchen with cabinets by a local craftsman was constructed so Horan can whip up her weekly specials, and in the main room of the business, they painstakingly hand-painted the wall to match the brick wallboard in the kitchen.<\/p>

Once the structure was sound, they began decorating, choosing steam punk as their theme, Ian Anderson said, pointing out things like gear boxes for light switches.<\/p>

\u201cI love steam punk d\u00e9cor,\u201d Nina Anderson said.<\/p>

In addition to the pool and arcade games, the Brick House Emporium is working with local artists to offer their crafts, jewelry and tie-dye. The variety of offerings and the possibilities they hope to explore in the future led them to the business\u2019 name, Ian Anderson said.<\/p>

\u201cThe definition of an emporium is all inclusive, and that\u2019s the idea,\u201d he said.<\/p>

The Brick House Emporium is currently open 8 a.m. \u2013 6 p.m. Monday; 2-8 p.m. Tuesday; 7 a.m. \u2013 5 p.m. Wednesday; and 8 a.m. \u2013 8 p.m. Thursday \u2013 Saturday. It is closed Sunday to the public but is available for private parties.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Nina and Ian Anderson and Brittany Horan have renovated the Old City Hall in Crawford and opened the Brick House Emporium.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kerri Rempp Discover Northwest Nebraska Break a rack and avoid those gobble holes! With more than a century behind it, one Crawford building has received a facelift and is home to a new business that encourages kids and adults alike to put down their phones and enjoy simpler forms of entertainment. The Brick House […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[247,55,433,432],"class_list":["post-7277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawford","tag-northwest-nebraska","tag-pinball","tag-pool"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Brick-House-Emporium.jpg?fit=1773%2C1182&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgf0HI-1Tn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7277"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7286,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277\/revisions\/7286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}