A & E -> A&E TUE, MAY 31 11:44AM by Heather Miller
Grant St. going smoke-free
Grant St. Dance Hall owners have taken a liking to the message of the Let’s Be Totally Clear movement to end smoking inside at bars and casinos: Starting Saturday, it will be the first large music venue in Lafayette to push the butts outside to the club’s covered porch.
Grant St. managing partner Toby Dore says it’s a move owners have been considering for a while, in part fueled by speaking with local musicians and attending meetings with Let’s Be Totally Clear and Tobacco-Free Living reps.
Proponents of the push to end smoking in bars and casinos have long lobbied that the issue is not about invading the personal rights of smokers, but instead aims to protect the lungs of the people who work inside.
Similar live music mainstays like The Varsity in Baton Rouge and DBA in New Orleans also have gone smoke-free, Dore says.
“It’s not an anti smoking policy. It’s more about indoor venues and those bartenders, sound engineers and musicians, their ability to work in an indoor, smoke-free environment,” Dore says.
With the announcement in place, what better way to celebrate the new smoke-free dance hall than with Lafayette musician David Egan and Grammy-winning zydeco frontman Chubby Carrier, two of the largest supporters of Let’s Be Totally Clear. Saturday night, Grant St. will host a free show with Egan and Carrier, also offering free jambalaya and red beans and rice.
“Grant St.’s always been a leader in the music community, and it would make sense they would make this commitment to their musicians,” says Let’s Be Totally Clear spokeswoman Kelley Anderson.
Smokers are invited, too, Dore says, and can puff away on Grant St.’s covered porch that houses up to 200 people at a time.
Grant St.’s upcoming music, but not smoke, filled weekend also includes Horace Trahan’s music video release party Friday night and Soul Night with Dinner at the Thompson’s from Paris, France, Sunday night. The historic dance hall also will open Monday night for its soon-to-be smoke free open mic night.
... written by Yeah, Ok , June 01, 2011 - 02:44 pm
Let's see how long that last when they realise how much money smokers spend on drinks.... somewhere else.
... written by Good Move , June 01, 2011 - 04:19 pm
Funny how smokers (who are always surrounded by other smokers) think they're the majority. Owners won't care about the few missing smokers when they start breathing clean air and new customers start rolling in because they went smoke-free. Congrats to Grant St.
... written by The the BORG , June 01, 2011 - 04:20 pm
Anti smoking bans will infiltrate, you will be assimilated
... written by bout time , June 01, 2011 - 04:36 pm
the bar/club scene is finally catchin up with the rest of the country.
... written by RCajunrunner , June 01, 2011 - 06:07 pm
I think it is great that an establishment like Grant Street Dancehall is able to make this decision and offer a smoke-free bar & music atmosphere on their own rather than having to comply with more rules & regulations forced upon private businesses by nanny-government.
Freedom to operate one's own private businesses how one sees fit is a great thing!
... written by Hugh Robertson , June 01, 2011 - 06:15 pm
I'm glad for this as I quit a long time ago. Most of the time smokers don't bother me but one comes home smelling like tobacco. As far as regulations go I always thought that the right was to do it was to require an adequate amount of ventilation rather than ban smoking outright.
... written by yadumonde , June 04, 2011 - 04:28 am
Great idea.
... written by Rinkelstein , June 06, 2011 - 02:31 pm
Yeah, they also went good-shows free years ago.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in using your Facebook account or register if you do not have an account yet.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
Subscribe to this comment's feed