As ban goes into effect, local clubs debut smoking rooms

By Jaedda Armstrong

The Rainbow Cactus Company in Virginia Beach was closed for business last Tuesday night, but that didn't mean owner Shelly White wasn't working.

Behind closed doors, the dance club looked like a home improvement show. Paint brushes and cans littered the floor next to the performance stage. A chop saw sat on a table beside several wood planks. In the next room, White stood on a ladder painting a wall "limolicious" green.

White and her staff were creating a smoking room at the nightclub to comply with the law that goes into effect Tuesday.

Businesses such as White's that serve food have these options under Virginia's new smoking ban: prohibit lighting up in their restaurants; designate outdoor areas for smoking; or set up a smoking room that is walled off and ventilated.

Private clubs are exempt from the ban.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed the legislation in March. According to the Virginia Department of Health, about 66 percent of the state's bars and restaurants were smoke-free before the legislation was approved. After approval, the number rose to more than 70 percent.

Yet, some local businesses don't want to take the risk of going totally smoke-free.

White would rather dish out $8,000 to create a separate smoking room than risk losing half her loyal customers.

The club already had two separate dance floors, so White decided to install wooden doors between the two areas. One side will become the smoking room.

"We thought about going totally smoke-free, but a lot of our patrons smoke," said Alan Phillips, the club's general manager. "We didn't want to alienate them."

"Well," said White, who quit smoking about three years ago, "it will be good to be out of that ball of smoke that forms in here."

Phillips, a smoker, shrugged his shoulders. He's worried that this change could cause a loss in profits.

"Some people might want to light a cigarette while watching a show, but I'm going to have to tell them to go inside the smoking room," he said. "They're not going to like that, but they'll have to get used to it."

Dennis Doughty, co-owner of The Banque in Norfolk, gave up his spacious office to create a smoking room in his country-western nightclub.

"We want our customers to be happy," said Doughty, a nonsmoker. "So, I'll give up my office to make them happy."

"This is my office now, a supply closet," he said on Wednesday afternoon, pointing to a narrow room with a desk and chair.

On Tuesday, contractors installed a ventilation system and plumbing fixtures, Doughty said. After completion, the smoking room will have a flat-screen TV for smokers to view the dance floor, he said, and a glass aquarium along the wall.

"We didn't want to lock people in a room and say, 'You're a bad person because you smoke,' " Doughty said. "With this room, they won't miss any of the action while they're taking a smoke break."

Annabelle Doughty, also co-owner of the club, wouldn't reveal how much the renovations cost, but she joked, "Our granddaughter's college fund went out the window."

Some bar owners said they simply didn't have the space or money to add separate smoking rooms. They fear they may lose customers because they'll have to send them outside.

At Baron's Pub in Portsmouth, Tyler McMillen complained that the smoking ban is unfair because its exceptions can't apply to everyone. He would love to add a smoking room, he said, but he doesn't have the space.

"I think this law is suited toward bigger, chain restaurants," McMillen said. "They didn't have the smaller guys with not much square footage in mind."

Instead, McMillen will use his outside patio to accommodate his smoking customers - who make up about half of his regular patrons.

Dorie Radford, manager at Bone Shakers Saloon in Virginia Beach, said her establishment didn't have the money to create a separate smoking room. Instead, the biker club's patio will be converted into a smoking section, she said.

"Our patio has plenty of space, and our customers love to sit outside and look at the bikes," Radford said. "Plus, in the summers, the patio is packed with customers and the inside is usually empty."

In a bit of a twist, The Baja, a seafood restaurant in Sandbridge, decided to allow smoking on the outdoor patio, said owner Jimmy Reeve. The establishment has been smoke-free for more than three years, he said.

Customers always crowd the front door while lighting up, and the smoke usually bothers other patrons, Reeve said. With the new ban in place, the smokers can gather on the patio and not irritate anyone, he said.

"I'm a non smoker, so of course I'm concerned about secondhand smoke," Reeve said. "But we want to be more hospitable, and we don't want smokers to feel like second-class citizens."

Jaedda Armstrong, (757) 222-5846, jaedda.armstrong@pilot online.com