from: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0502ruelas02.html

Smoking ban blows roof off bar

May. 2, 2003 12:00 AM

Harry Hekmatian has literally blown the roof off of Tempe's smoking ban.

In an effort to save his pool hall, he demolished part of it. Namely the ceiling.

"I didn't break the law. I didn't complain about it," Hekmatian says. "We tried to accommodate the law, non-smokers, smokers, and it worked."

The space looks like what it is: a billiard room without a roof. There are 15 tables, a full bar, some stools and a few TVs.

Ceiling fans hang off of metal beams. There are heat lamps for the cold months and a misting system for the summer that will supposedly make 100 degrees feel like 70.

The conversion cost $2.5 million, Hekmatian said. But he says it's money well spent because, without it, he would have lost his 12-year-old pool hall at Mill and Southern avenues.

Hekmatian started planning his open-air conversion as soon as he found out that a smoking ban had made it to the city ballot. Voters approved the measure, which outlawed smoking in all businesses, including bars.

"Pool players need to smoke," he says. "You can't take the smokes away. It's like taking the balls away."

Hekmatian used his architect training to make some sketches. His plan took the top off about one-quarter of the sprawling pool hall formerly known as Pinke's.

His landlord initially balked at the plan. But after seeing business drop 60 percent after the first month of the smoking ban, he agreed.

"He looked at me and said, 'OK, take the roof off the building.'"

Hekmatian closed down for a few months while he gutted the place.

Lifting the roof was no easy task. He needed to lash supports around the remaining walls so they wouldn't collapse in on each other. He put in metal mesh fencing and more than a dozen security cameras.

He also reconfigured the inside of his business, the part that is still non-smoking.

One portion still holds pool tables. Hekmatian says some serious players don't want the elements messing up their game and are willing to sacrifice smoking for ideal conditions.

Another portion is becoming a sports bar, complete with foosball tables. Initially, those were outside too, but Hekmatian moved them in after realizing foosball players don't smoke when they play. Another portion is a club that will mix dancing with comedy and music acts.

He gave the place a new name, The Sets, and opened in early March. He quickly realized that on crowded nights, most of the crowd is outside. Even the non-smokers.

If he had to do it over again, Hekmatian says he would have removed even more of the roof. He jokes about exchanging a 16,000-square-foot bar for one that's 4,000 square feet.

He's started an advertising campaign, touting the fact that pool players can smoke in his place. "I'm not trying to push it," he says. "If smoking were all I was emphasizing, it all becomes a cigarette commercial."

But he does need to get the word out.

Tempe has lost business to neighboring cities with no smoking bans, or less restrictive ones. Hekmatian would rather see a statewide or regional smoking ban, rather than this piecemeal approach.

Better yet, he'd like his reconfigured pool hall to send a message to the non-smoking advocates pushing the restrictive laws.

"If there is one trait everybody needs to have in life," he says, "it's flexibility."

Reach Ruelas at (602) 444-8473 or at richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com

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