By Marcela Creps, Hoosier Times
ELLETTSVILLE - As the doors opened to the lower level of Hoosier Bar and Grill Friday night, patrons were drawn to the dance floor as the DJ played Tone Loc's "Wild Thing."
Most of the patrons found their way to the dance floor, while others sat down to watch. And in a sight rarely seen in Monroe County, many of them held lit cigarettes.
Since Monroe's countywide smoking ban went into effect in 2005, bars and restaurants have sent smokers outside to light up - except in the town of Ellettsville.
Because it is a separate government entity. Ellettsville is not affected by the county's ban. The town code requires a separate smoking section, but there is no smoking ban in restaurants and bars.
Hoosier Bar and Grill, Kenny's Tavern and the Eagles allow patrons to drink and smoke because they are within the town limits of Ellettsville. And that could make Ellettsville a magnet for the county's smokers.
Hoosier Bar's owner Dan Swafford said business was good in 2005, but he heard that some bar owners in Bloomington have experienced about a 20 percent loss over the past year.
"We're up probably 26 percent from last year," he said. "If I was in reverse, I would be closed."
Swafford is quick to point out that he has no idea if the smoking ban is the real reason he has seen an increase. He said most bars peak between years five and eight.
"It's our sixth year in business," he said.
Changes since the ban
While Swafford couldn't say whether smoking made a difference in his increased revenue, he has noticed interesting changes.
Before the smoking ban, Swafford said people wouldn't typically come to the bar if the weather was cold or rainy.
"People just didn't want to come out," he said. "Now it seems our business increased on bad weather nights. On those nights I see 90 percent of my customers smoking. It didn't used to be this bad. It's a puzzle to me, too."
While many of the patrons come to Swafford's bar because it's close, at least one said he comes because he can smoke.
"We went to the Highland Lounge earlier tonight," said J.D. Walker Friday night. "We only stayed for one drink because we couldn't smoke."
Most of the bar regulars come to Hoosier Bar and Grill because of its location. Bar regulars Patrick Clay and Grant Duncan said they still frequent other bars, but live close enough to Hoosier Bar and Grill that they can walk home if necessary.
"This is like our main bar," Duncan said."
Clay said he only smokes when he is drinking.
"I don't just sit around the house and smoke cigarettes," he said.
Could Ellettsville ban smoking?
So what would it take for Ellettsville to join the rest of the county?
"It would take three votes," said Patrick Stoffers, president of the Ellettsville Town Council.
Getting those three votes would prove difficult, according to Stoffers.
"Nobody has ever approached me one way or another," he said.
Stoffers said that when Bloomington's smoking ban passed, there was concern that businesses would migrate toward Ellettsville.
"That didn't happen," he said.
The migration of other businesses is a concern for Swafford who talked of the recent alcohol permit granted to Putter's Park, located across the highway from his bar. He said he is not happy about others coming to Ellettsville to profit from its stance on smoking.
"I don't really want to see that happen either," Swafford said. "Competition is great, but who needs all the competition? If things would have been left as is, we could have all existed. I don't want Ellettsville known for that."
Stoffers, who is a smoker, said he doesn't base his decision on what restaurant to patronize based on their stand on smoking.
"I just don't personally think that makes much difference myself," he said. "I'm sure there is a distinct core group of people that won't go somewhere because they can't smoke."
But as to whether the town council could be swayed into passing a smoking ban, Stoffers just doesn't think it will happen.
"You couldn't get three votes," he said. "It just wouldn't happen. I've never had a single person approach me and say 'Patrick, this is something you can contemplate.'"
Stoffers said he doesn't deny that there are health risks to smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.
"But there doesn't seem to be a very large interest in the public for Ellettsville to do something like that," he said.
Profit and the ban
Back at Hoosier Bar and Grill, Swafford said he doesn't like to think he is profiting off of other bar owners whose patrons aren't allowed to smoke. He does remain optimistic that things will rebound.
Swafford said he was not in favor of the smoking ban and thinks there were other alternatives. He points to his separate family dining area where smoking is not allowed.
"I think that's what should have been enforced," he said. "I think that's the route they should have went."
Interestingly, Swafford is a former smoker who gave it up years ago.
"I hate smoke," he said. "But, I'm also a business man. I knew that when I opened the place that I would have to deal with the smoke. That's one thing I wanted to address when we came here."
As a result of his aversion to smoke, Swafford worked hard to find a way to allow smoking.
"In 2000 I designed the place with high ceilings and a great exhaust system so I wouldn't have to deal with the smoke as much," he said. "Some of the other bars, it was just like a fog of smoke. I kind of addressed that issue."
As a non-smoking business owner of one of the few smoking businesses in the county, Swafford said he wishes the smoking ban had never been passed. He said he believes everyone has a choice.
"I'm a true American and I love my country, but there are certain rights that this country was established on and the right of choice was one of them," he said.