Smoking ban makes quiet debut in Metro East
By Tim Logan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Jan. 02 2008
The butts went out across Illinois at midnight Monday, the start of a new
statewide smoking ban that had Metro East bars, and some of their patrons,
ringing in the new year with grumbling and uncertainty.
The ban, which prohibits smoking inside or within 15 feet of a door of any
public building, has led some bars to open special smoking patios and some to
worry about a slump in business.
And while it's too soon to know the impact of the ban on business or public
health, a change in the air was noticeable by Tuesday afternoon.
At Camelot Bowl in Collinsville, for instance, there was not an ashtray to be
found. And anyone walking in the front door was greeted by new signs touting
Camelot's new "smoke free bowling," and "fresh air to spare."
The signs were a way to be positive about the change, said owner Art Hartman,
even if he wasn't wild about the idea. Like many bowling alley owners, he said,
he worries about damage to bowling shoes from smokers leaving the lanes for a
puff.
But the law was followed pretty smoothly when the appointed hour came at
Camelot on Monday night. Workers picked up the ashtrays, Hartman said, and
there was no resistance.
"It's 2008. It's the new year," he said. "And it's the era of nonsmoking."
That was a cause for celebration for at least one patron at Shenanigan's
Restaurant and Sports Bar in Belleville.
Regular Dan Lavin said he'll go home without smelling like cigarettes, at last.
"I love it," he said. "I hate the smoke. Every time you come here, you've got
to go wash your clothes. This is the greatest thing."
But three seats down the bar, Norm Heck saw it differently. He noted that while
he's outside smoking, he's not drinking, and that's bad for a bar's business.
Then he got up, went to the parking lot and smoked in his car.
Back inside, Shenanigan's day manager Butch Davidson said he worries about
enforcement of the ban that sets fines for violations of up to $250 for
individuals and $2,500 for businesses.
It's a lot to ask bartenders to make sure no one's smoking within 15 feet of
the door on a crowded night, Davidson said. And who's responsible if someone
walks up to the door with a cigarette, then throws it out?
"There's lots of loose ends here," Davidson said.
A check of several law enforcement agencies in the Metro East area found that
no citations had been issued to smoking ban scofflaws or complaints filed over
alleged violations by early Tuesday evening.
Still, the ban prompted some club owners to worry about the future of their
business.
Co-owner Chuck Hess was getting ready for Day 1 of the ban at the Cigar Inn, a
cigar and jazz bar in downtown Belleville. He's been thinking lately, he said,
about how to run a cigar bar where you can't smoke.
"We're going to have to relook at how we position ourselves," Hess said. "It
really just puts a damper on what we're trying to achieve here."
Still, Hess was hopeful. He lived in California when that state enacted a ban
10 years ago and noted that most businesses there made out fine. He figures the
Cigar Inn will pick up some customers who like the music but not the smoke. And
the inn will still sell cigars -- to go.
Other places carried on pretty much like before.
At the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, for instance, the slots still hummed and
the dealers still dealt. But the air was clearer, and gamblers who wanted a
puff could follow signs to a new "smoking lounge" off the side of the building.
But some just headed out the front door to smoke under the heat lamps. That's
where Don Miles of south St. Louis County took a break between games.
Inside, he'd been coping with the ban with a pocket full of Blow-Pops.
"I just need something to keep my hands busy in there," he said. "So you don't
notice until the end of the game. Then, if you're doing pretty well, you can go
out and have a cigarette."
The ban is not such a bad thing, just a little inconvenient, Miles said. And
there is a bright side.
"I'm not smoking as much."
tlogan@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8291
By Tim Logan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Jan. 02 2008
The butts went out across Illinois at midnight Monday, the start of a new
statewide smoking ban that had Metro East bars, and some of their patrons,
ringing in the new year with grumbling and uncertainty.
The ban, which prohibits smoking inside or within 15 feet of a door of any
public building, has led some bars to open special smoking patios and some to
worry about a slump in business.
And while it's too soon to know the impact of the ban on business or public
health, a change in the air was noticeable by Tuesday afternoon.
At Camelot Bowl in Collinsville, for instance, there was not an ashtray to be
found. And anyone walking in the front door was greeted by new signs touting
Camelot's new "smoke free bowling," and "fresh air to spare."
The signs were a way to be positive about the change, said owner Art Hartman,
even if he wasn't wild about the idea. Like many bowling alley owners, he said,
he worries about damage to bowling shoes from smokers leaving the lanes for a
puff.
But the law was followed pretty smoothly when the appointed hour came at
Camelot on Monday night. Workers picked up the ashtrays, Hartman said, and
there was no resistance.
"It's 2008. It's the new year," he said. "And it's the era of nonsmoking."
That was a cause for celebration for at least one patron at Shenanigan's
Restaurant and Sports Bar in Belleville.
Regular Dan Lavin said he'll go home without smelling like cigarettes, at last.
"I love it," he said. "I hate the smoke. Every time you come here, you've got
to go wash your clothes. This is the greatest thing."
But three seats down the bar, Norm Heck saw it differently. He noted that while
he's outside smoking, he's not drinking, and that's bad for a bar's business.
Then he got up, went to the parking lot and smoked in his car.
Back inside, Shenanigan's day manager Butch Davidson said he worries about
enforcement of the ban that sets fines for violations of up to $250 for
individuals and $2,500 for businesses.
It's a lot to ask bartenders to make sure no one's smoking within 15 feet of
the door on a crowded night, Davidson said. And who's responsible if someone
walks up to the door with a cigarette, then throws it out?
"There's lots of loose ends here," Davidson said.
A check of several law enforcement agencies in the Metro East area found that
no citations had been issued to smoking ban scofflaws or complaints filed over
alleged violations by early Tuesday evening.
Still, the ban prompted some club owners to worry about the future of their
business.
Co-owner Chuck Hess was getting ready for Day 1 of the ban at the Cigar Inn, a
cigar and jazz bar in downtown Belleville. He's been thinking lately, he said,
about how to run a cigar bar where you can't smoke.
"We're going to have to relook at how we position ourselves," Hess said. "It
really just puts a damper on what we're trying to achieve here."
Still, Hess was hopeful. He lived in California when that state enacted a ban
10 years ago and noted that most businesses there made out fine. He figures the
Cigar Inn will pick up some customers who like the music but not the smoke. And
the inn will still sell cigars -- to go.
Other places carried on pretty much like before.
At the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, for instance, the slots still hummed and
the dealers still dealt. But the air was clearer, and gamblers who wanted a
puff could follow signs to a new "smoking lounge" off the side of the building.
But some just headed out the front door to smoke under the heat lamps. That's
where Don Miles of south St. Louis County took a break between games.
Inside, he'd been coping with the ban with a pocket full of Blow-Pops.
"I just need something to keep my hands busy in there," he said. "So you don't
notice until the end of the game. Then, if you're doing pretty well, you can go
out and have a cigarette."
The ban is not such a bad thing, just a little inconvenient, Miles said. And
there is a bright side.
"I'm not smoking as much."
tlogan@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8291
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