PROVO — Utah County officials have decided to nearly double the price of renting the rotunda and the ballroom at the Historic Utah County Courthouse after receiving complaints that the county was undercutting local reception centers with their low rental prices.
As of January, costs for renting the ballroom and rotunda for wedding receptions will range between $1,400 and $2,000.
"It's a fairly substantial increase," said Clyde Naylor, Utah County engineer/surveyor, who oversees the historic courthouse. "It was based on a survey of other people that do wedding receptions, but we don't offer the services a lot of them do. We just offer space."
A number of reception centers in the area began complaining to the county and the city of Provo four years ago, shortly after the newly remodeled Provo City Library at Academy Square opened. The library also has ballroom space available for rent for wedding receptions and other functions.
Those who complained said it was unfair for the city and county governments to rent the spaces for a discount since the buildings are supported by taxes, which the private reception centers have to pay.
"From a reception standpoint, (the cost increase) will make it a little easier on us," said Debra Tucker, a manager for the Somewhere Inn Time reception hall in Lindon. "It just makes the playing field a little more fair with what we can do, versus what they can do."
Across the county, Tucker said, complete wedding packages, including a venue, decorations, catering, servers, set up, clean up and a cake costs from about $1,200 to $2,000.
The ballroom and rotunda at the historic courthouse used to be available for $800 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on a weeknight and from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on a weekend, but the room does not come with other services. Now, a room for the same block of time will cost $1,400, with a $75 security deposit, in case the room is damaged.
If the reception includes a dance, the price jumps to $2,000 with a $500 security deposit.
Although the space is rented out for about 50 weddings a year, with December being the most popular month, Naylor says the county prefers to keep a low profile of the courthouse's availability.
"We prefer not to advertise because we don't want the people in the (wedding reception) business to feel that we're trying to take their business from them," Naylor said.
Rental costs for the ballroom at the Provo City Library at Academy Square range between $500 and $1,000, depending on the length of time for which the room is used. Provo residents receive a 15 percent discount, said library director Gene Nelson.
"A charge was given to us, when the building opened five years ago, to bring in enough money from rental of spaces to cover that cost of that part of operations," Nelson said. "Otherwise, we'd have to take money from our book budget to subsidize it."
Last year, the ballroom was rented 132 times for various purposes, which just about covers the operating costs for the building, Nelson said. The library also does not advertise their available rooms.
Although costs to rent the ballroom at Academy Square are less than at the courthouse, Nelson said he does not expect the library to raise the rates any time soon.
"We have done some investigations, running numbers ourselves," Nelson said. "As we put in our numbers, we added what it would cost to bring in a cake or a caterer, and we found ... that our number was landing midstream of the total cost it might be at a full-service type of a reception home. We see ourselves as a different option."
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