Atlantic City's building boom is partly motivated by extra competition from surrounding states. Gaming revenue fell last year for the first time in the city's 30-year history of casino gambling - a decline blamed on new slot parlors in Pennsylvania and New York and the lingering effects of Atlantic City's partial casino smoking ban.

A compromise between the city and the casinos last year allowed smoking on 25 percent of the gaming floor. However, City Council voted last week to junk the smoking limits in favor of a total casino smoking ban that takes effect Oct. 15.

Most of the casinos plan to comply with the smoking ban by building indoor smoking lounges away from the slot machines and gaming tables. Borgata, though, has broken from the pack with its plan for outdoor smoking areas.

In a press release Wednesday, Borgata claimed it will now be "the first 100 percent smoke-free casino in Atlantic City." It has submitted plans for the outdoor smoking areas to the Department of Community Affairs, the state agency that is also overseeing regulatory approvals for the indoor smoking lounges.

"We just don't want to mess up our building. We think we have a beautiful building here," Mullin said.

Borgata's outdoor smoking areas won't need the special ventilation systems required of the indoor lounges to keep smoke from drifting throughout the buildings. In its press release, Borgata expressed hope that its proposal will accommodate "both smokers and nonsmokers alike."

Casinos fear the total smoking ban will cut deeper into their business by forcing even more smokers out of Atlantic City. The partial smoking ban, now a year old, has repeatedly been cited as one of the reasons for the revenue decline in 2007.

"There will be a hit," Mullin said of the impact of the total ban. "We've seen a hit all along. Now we'll have to deal with the smoking ordinance in its entirety."

On the flip side, Mullin said the smoking ban may give Atlantic City an opportunity to attract entirely new customers by marketing itself as a smoke-free casino town.

"For people who feel congested at some of the Philadelphia-area casinos or other markets where smoking is permitted, we will become a choice for them," he said.

A large crowd of anti-smoking advocates and union members applauded the smoking ban during the mayor's signing ceremony Wednesday at the United Auto Workers building on Albany Avenue.

"I'm happy that I can be the mayor to sign this into law," Evans said. "Today's the day we make it real."

Until recently, the mayor had avoided committing to the smoking ordinance, but pledged his support for the bill after it was approved by City Council.

"Nobody knows better than me the value of saving lives and protecting lives," said Evans, who is on leave from his job with the city's Fire Department. "Everybody has the right to stay healthy. I've never been a smoker, but I've seen what it's done to people."

Although there had been some skepticism among groups lobbying for the legislation, the bill signing spurred a rush of optimism and momentum for anti-smoking advocates.

"I think the casinos will do the right thing," said Karen Blumenfeld, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Group Against Smoking Pollution, or GASP. "There's not much we can do now but start counting down (to Oct. 15)."

Casino employees and labor unions pushed for the smoking ban to protect workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

"Being here today is the highlight of my life," Kim Hesse, a casino worker for 27 years, said at the signing ceremony.

Staff writer Michael Clark contributed to this report.

To e-mail Donald Wittkowski at The Press:

DWittkowski@pressofac.com