A fire that hit a Raon building on Tuesday has drawn attention back to a stretch of Avenida once known for its cluster of billiard halls, where players like Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante were watched, wagered on, and remembered.

The blaze broke out on July 28 at the Martinez Layva Building along Rizal Avenue, corner Gonzalo Puyat (formerly Raon) and Trinidad Streets in Sta. Cruz. It reached second alarm and damaged portions of the upper floors.

Raon Street was officially renamed Gonzalo Puyat Street in 1984, in honor of Filipino industrialist Gonzalo Puyat, as the area evolved into a major electronics and supply district.

The burned structure was part of a building associated with Sunrise Billiards, one of several well-known pool halls that once operated in the area.

While formal records on the halls remain limited, local archives, photographs, and community memory place them among the billiard spots that thrived along Avenida by the 1960s and 1970s.

Exterior of the Manila Center Billiards Hall along Avenida–Raon in an earlier photo, associated with the area’s billiards scene in the 1960s. (June Candido)

The building reflected typical postwar commercial design, multi-level, with high ceilings and wide-set windows, built to accommodate large crowds and the thick cigarette smoke common in billiard halls at the time.

It was a working-class billiards scene. Neighborhood players, hustlers, and students from nearby University Belt schools gathered for money games and long hours at the tables.

Then and now: The former Manila Center Billiards Hall (top) and its present state (bottom), showing how the Avenida–Raon area shifted from a billiards hub to an electronics and supply district. (Photos courtesy of Gary Nicolas and June Cadido; present-day photos by Diann Calucin)

“Tambayan pag nag-cutting class… noong 90s (Hangout spot when we cut classes… back in the ’90s),” one recalled. Another said, “We used to frequent that place during my college days.”

Jun, a resident of 35 years, remembers the level of play.

“Diyan ko napanood maglaro ng karambola (I saw carom billiards being played there),” he said.

Then and now: Staircase of the former Manila Center Billiards Hall (top) and its present condition (bottom).

It was within this same Santa Cruz corridor that Reyes honed his skills at his uncle’s Lucky 13 Billiard Hall, working as a billiard attendant in his youth, long before he became one of the most celebrated players in the world.

Across the street, the former Manila Center Billiards Hall, now operating on a smaller scale under a different name, remains open, though far from its former size.

Manila Center Billiards Hall (Photo courtesy of June Candido)

Residents recalled how matches involving Reyes would draw crowds, with spectators filling the hall and even spilling outside, placing bets and cheering as games unfolded.

Then and now: Avenida–Raon (Gonzalo Puyat) Street in its earlier years (top) and today (bottom), as the area evolved into a busy electronics and supply district.

“Kapag naglalaro si Bata, parang tumitigil ang mundo dito (When Bata plays, it’s like the world stops here),” one resident said.

Others said top players like Bustamante would also pass through the area, further cementing its reputation as a hub for local cue-sport action.