City ‘dive’ bars get ready for last gasp

Tavern owners expect to keep customers, and maybe gain some, when Jan. 1 law goes into effect

By Jennifer Anderson

The Portland Tribune, Aug 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (41 Reader comments)

Duke Savuno fires up a cigarette at Spot 79, a Southeast Foster Road bar he frequents regularly for a puff and a drink. Savuno says the Jan. 1 smoking ban won’t stop him from coming to the bar.

L.E. BASKOW / TRIBUNE PHOTO

Robert Becken admits it’s a bit funny that he owns a place called Smokey’s Tavern.

After all, the 13-year bar owner is an avid marathon runner, despite his pack-a-day habit. Only problem is, he’s been trying to quit for the past year but just can’t, spending most of his time in a bar that lives up to its name.

That’s why he’s looking forward to the new smoking ban that will hit all Oregon bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls and bar areas of restaurants on Jan. 1.

“I can’t wait; I don’t like it smoky,” Becken says, eyeing the small wood-paneled space on Southeast 55th and Foster Road., a longtime neighborhood dive decorated with red plastic ashtrays, video poker machines and fluorescent beer lights. “This place is called Smokey’s,” he adds. “I’m going to have to change it to Smokeless.”

Oregon bar owners now have just over four months to prepare for the new ban, the latest version of the state’s 2002 Smokefree Workplace Law enacted by the Oregon Legislature last year.

Beginning with the new year, smokers will be relegated to outdoor patios, alleys or sidewalks at least 10 feet away from all doorways, windows and air vents. The 10-foot rule is a new change for other businesses as well, which have been smokefree since 2002 but have allowed smokers to stand just outside their premises.

But the thought of leaving a worn-in barstool to step outside in the rain to light up doesn’t fare well for many bar owners and customers who frequent local “dive” bars, the last holdout for seasoned smokers.

“I live here,” joked Duke Savuno, a retired U.S. Marine Corps veteran who frequents Spot 79, a neighborhood tavern at Southeast 79th and Foster Road, about five times a week. “If you can carry a pistol, you should smoke anywhere you want.”

After all, dive bars — in the friendliest sense — are practically defined by the stale perfume of nicotine that’s accumulated over decades, just like the musty odor of a beloved jean jacket.

Dotting nearly every neighborhood of the city’s landscape, the cozy confines of dive bars offer comfort and camaraderie among mainly older, working-class crowds — and nowadays younger hipsters, too — with their cheap drinks and unpretentious atmosphere.

So will the extension of the nonsmoking law be the end of the dive?

Not exactly, Savuno and others say. After all, these loyal patrons have been frequenting their favorite spots for 15, 20, 30 years. And having to step outside to smoke won’t stop them from coming. “I’ll still be here,” Savuno promised.

His friend, George Stottlemyer, agrees, although, on principle, he doesn’t like the law either. “How many places do you get to smoke anymore?” he said. “It’s their right to smoke. You take (cigarettes) away, they’re going to come up with something else to smoke.”

Most bar owners are counting on the loyalty of their patrons, and don’t fear too much of a drop-off in business.

“They’ll stay — I’ve talked to them,” said Lizzie Robards, owner of the Slammer, a popular dive at Southeast Eighth Avenue and Sandy Boulevard.

Health concerns prompted law

While Robards doesn’t like to be forced to do anything by the government, she has to admit the law will have its benefits, having personally quit smoking three months ago out of concern for her health.

“I’m not for it,” she said. “What’s next, your gas lawn mower? Go ahead and use a push mower because you’re clouding my air.”

At the same time, she said, “We all know that smoking is unhealthy for us. I’m 57 years old. When I started smoking, we didn’t know the dangers. The kids do know the dangers now. I think it’s going to help a lot of them. Even if they don’t quit, they’re going to cut way back.”

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