Erin M. Droste

First Management employee Lance Hoover smokes a cigarette while clearing cement from behind Quinton’s Bar & Deli, 615 Massachusetts St., to make room for new smoking decks. First Management’s Derk Ogden said the work began two weeks ago and that the deck would be finished within a month.

The wooden deck behind Quinton’s Bar & Deli is gone. It has been a popular Lawrence hangout for more than ten years, owner Steve Gaudreau said.

Because of the smoking ban, Gaudreau said, things needed to change.

A two-level, enclosed concrete smoking deck will be built behind the bar to accommodate smoking customers.

The renovations at Quinton’s, 615 Massachusetts St., are part of a common trend among local businesses to attract clientele.

The smoking ban has forced other bars to come up with creative ideas for patios and decks.

Kaspar’s Bar and Grill, 3115 W. 6th St., roped off a segment in front of the establishment to create a patio. The space is not as expansive as some of the bars downtown, but Kaspar’s strip mall location leaves few alternatives.

Louise’s Bar Downtown, 1009 Massachusetts St., erected a new deck last summer.

John Davis, manager of Louise’s, said the new patio cost several thousand dollars. The new deck helped improve business for the bar, enough to require hiring more employees.

“We see a lot more people night-in and night-out because of the new deck,” said Davis.

Lawrence bars and restaurants are adapting and find new ways to give the customers what they want, which helps the businesses do what they want: make money.

Gaudreau decided to build the deck in part because Quinton’s had lost customers who frequented its upstairs bar.

The ban forced him to close the upstairs bar all but one day a week, he said. As a result of losing money, some wait staff were fired.

“I didn’t have a choice — I had to adapt,” said Gaudreau. “It was costing me a $5,000 to $6,000 a week because people didn’t want to go upstairs.”

Quinton’s new deck will be one of the larger decks downtown. The bar will have a covered roof and pipe heaters on each floor.

The renovations will allow him to reopen the upstairs four days a week, he said.

The price tag for the new deck is around $160,000.

Renovations to the deck itself are not the only expenditures for the bar. The heaters alone will cost $4,000 apiece.

Some anti-smoking ban residents tried to petition Lawrence’s city commission to put the ban on the November ballot. Because too few signatures were raised, the ban will remain uncontested.