816 Vapor Room facing a temporarily cloudy future

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The opening of a proposed restaurant-vape venue, 816 Vapor Room, in the Uptown Shoppes (across the street from the Uptown Theater), has been delayed.

Why? The new article XVII added to Chapter 34, Code of Ordinances — passed by the City Council on November 19 — effectively regulates vapor products in much the same way that Kansas City regulates cigarette smoking. Vaping is now prohibited in public buildings — casinos excluded. (David Hudnall’s October 27 cover story in The Pitch predicted the future of vaping in Kansas City.)

“It came from out of the blue,” says Uptown Shoppes owner Larry Sells.

There are exceptions to the new regulations, and Sells says the owner of the 816 Vapor Room, Keith Peterson, is adapting the space to meet section 34-704, Section D, Subsection 2: “(the venue) has separate heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment that vents or exchanges air outside of the building or structure in which the business establishment is situated which prevents the mixing of air from the establishment with air from the other portions of the premises where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this Article.”

“They’re installing a very expensive air filtration system,” Sells translates.

Sells does not permit electronic cigarettes in his most famous property, the 89-year-old Uptown Theater. “That was our policy even before the new regulations were passed,” he says.

When 816 Vapor Room opens — in two months, Sells figures — the venue will be a full-service restaurant.

“We’ll be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Keith Peterson tells The Pitch. Peterson also owns the Mile High Drip e-juice company, which manufactures an array of culinary-inspired flavors, including “Crackloopz,” a vape take on Fruit Loops cereal.