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Downtown Lakeland’s Rec Room, which bills itself as a “barcade,” with full cocktail, beer and wine service and arcade games, has plans to double its indoor area and expand an outside area.
At the same time, some Rec Room neighbors already are concerned about late-night noise coming from the bar and its patrons after it closes at 2 a.m. and the party moves to the parking garage across the street.
The art-deco style building at the corner of Cedar Street and Massachusetts Avenue once housed a Firestone car service center and, most recently, was home to Lkld Live events.
According to the Polk County Property Appraiser, the structure was built in 1930.
What the Rec Room entails: There are retro video arcade games, along with traditional games like air hockey, pinball, table tennis and skee-ball. The existing bar/arcade provides seating for up to 160 patrons indoors.
The proposed expansion space would accommodate 162 more people. There will be room for 75 people in a covered patio area along Cedar Street.
Currently, until 9 p.m., Rec Room is open to all ages; after 9 p.m., it is open only to those 21 years old or older.
Lakeland Rec Room proprietor Conn O’Leary and his partners have operated another bar, Cob & Pen, on South Florida Avenue since 2016 and the Rec Room since 2019. They have also operated the Good Thyme restaurant in Dixieland.
Police calls: The Lakeland Police Department said in a two-year period from December 2022 to December 2024, the Rec Room had a total of 162 calls for service — the most service calls received by LPD among the seven active bars downtown.
The number of service calls for other downtown bars within the same period ranged from 10 to 65 calls for service.
Service Calls for the Rec Room from Dec. 2022 to Dec. 2024:
- Community Service 62
- Unconfirmed Emergency 14
- Suspicious Persons 13
- Trespass/Unwanted Guest 11
- Police Service 10
- Disturbance 7
Most of the calls generated by the Rec Room are classified as “community service,” and, according to LPD, community service calls are “mostly self-initiated activity and not a call for service. This could be an officer on foot patrol or bike patrol downtown, an officer staging in the area for presence, (or) participation in a community event like First Friday.”
Complaints: City officials received two emails from Lakeland Loft residents objecting to the proposed expansion, citing:
- Noise
- Public urination in the parking garage
- Drug use
- Sexual assaults
- Inadequate security by the Rec Room
City officials say the parking garage has historically been a troublesome spot at night, with both minors and patrons of all downtown bars using it as a place to drink alcohol.
O’Leary has offered to make some changes he hopes will help his business be a friendly neighbor:
- On Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m., O’Leary shall hire off-duty law enforcement.
- All outdoor patio areas shall be for outdoor seating only, with no games or other bar-related activities.
- Have no outdoor speakers or amplified noise of any kind within the outdoor seating area.
- Install noise mitigation measures for the outside seating, including a vegetative buffer along Cedar Street.
The Lakeland Planning & Zoning Board approved the Rec Room’s conditional. It will now go to the City Commission for a vote.
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