The Grand Hall

Great venue for any type of event. The building is designed very nicely with tall ceilings, nice lighting, lots of long windows, outdoor benches/pond, nice big spacious kitchen with cooler, separate bridal room, and large stage. It can be decorated up easily for fancier events. Mike/Jamie coordinate booking, but I was especially impressed with Karen and her husband who helped coordinate things day of event. They are very flexible with access to the building and overall customer service is great. One negative is the cost of rent is a little higher than similar venues (~$2500-$3500 depending on the day) and there is no extra amenities provided (no tablecloths/linens/silverware , no servers, etc) that many other similar venues provide. That said, the hall fits 500 people and you can easily change around tables/chairs since the rent isn't based on chairs. They set-up however you'd like everything. Most of the communication is over email with Jamie. Another negative is AV system coordination is not great. I asked Karen throughout the set-up how to work the TVs/mic and she said her husband would 'come soon'. But we didn't get the mic/TV coordinated until the middle of the event after I kept asking. We had this issue the first time I did an event with Grand Hall too - at that time Jamie/Mike were not able to help set-up/explain the system and we ended up not having a working mic the whole evening.Overall recommend this venue especially if you're having a big event and/or want things to be a little spaced out.

I hate to go from a 5 star review just a year ago to two stars this year, Jan. '19 but well deserved. This Jan. we struggled the entire time with multiple issues on Fri and during most of event on Saturday. This is a long review so if nothing else PLEASE do not book The Grand Hall based upon my 2018 review! The facility is still a great venue, with potential, but new mgmt is apparently the issue. We learned of transition just a couple weeks before our actual event. We were working with Caterer who managed Grand Hall for, at least, past 2 yrs. 2018 had outstanding experience so rebooked for this Jan. '19 event. Last year we simply walked in on Fri and began our assigned tasks for setup. Easy, Peasy. This year multiple issues on Fri (setup day) and Sat (actual event). I'll try to keep this under control or till I run out of space. First, NEW MANAGEMENT: We were scheduled from 9:00 - 3:00 on Fri. for setup. Told new Mgr/employee, which we'd never met, walked in at 8:45, unlocked the front door only and left before we arrived at 9:00. NO introduction, NO did I unlock everything needed, NO anything and left as quickly as he arrived. Poor customer service to say the least. Do you want repeat business? He did NOT unlock 1) bar area needed on Sat, 2) loading/unloading area needed both days, and 3) the storage room where table and chairs are stored. He did not return ANY of the numerous calls from the frustated caterers on Fri/Sat attempting to inform him of multiple issues. Not one second of help was offered by him/mgmt nor any communication returned all weekend addressing situation. VENUE: Setup diagram not followed. Dining tables missing and CLEARLY 5 dining tables were severely broken and required replacement. One was so physically broken it was lying on its side (1/2 up) but all broken tables left up anyway with many others wobbling. NONE of 38 silent auction tables were even in the room (still in storage). Catering Mgrs stepped in and setup missing tables & linens even though it wasn't their responsibility. Staff placing linens on tables didn't seem to care if tablecloth lengths were close to even and were major uneven on tables. Not a professional look! Many table/chair supports were broken in some form plus 80% of the chairs were stained or just dirty. Asked to replace broken tables/chairs on Fri, a few were, but staff didn't inspect chairs/tables closely. Day of event we personally attempted to replace to find most remaining tables/chairs in storage broken and stained. Which, to our embarrassment, meant we had to use the existing furniture. MAJOR issue and needs replaced immediately. Since 38 auction tables were nonexistent at time of arrival & dining tables had to be replaced or rearranged caused physical redundancy for our generous volunteers/committee. All items moved twice from TWO U-hauls + several vehicles into open floor space then moved again to tables once setup. Extreme frustration and confusion for all involved! AUDIO/VIDEO: A/V didn't work easily or properly, hard to hear and created a nightmare. Person assisting just started pushing buttons. He had no idea. CATERERS: Since we were locked out of bar area they used an old, free standing bar. Solution, yes, but had to be placed in the main isle. Bar line wrapped throughout the dining area and into the silent auction area. Lengthy bar line blocked the folks from checkout so it was a cluster of confusion. Buffet table setup serving from one side only instead of both sides. We were so distraught Fri we missed calling this issue to their attention. Regardless, wrong. Guests complained bar & food lines so long they had limited time to bid on Auction Items or just gave up on food/beverages! Catering staff unaware we brought in beautiful cake from Market District. Told our Chairperson it would not be cut until the food buffet had been taken away. Wrong! Her decision! Shortly after staff randomly removed cake plates/forks (we provided) half way through guests enjoying cake with more than half remaining! Asked for those to be returned. Asked for a butter knife, told needed supervisor approval 1st. Buffet was removed without notification so we couldn't announce last chance to grab food before removal. Many complaints about food based upon verbal comments/satisfaction questionnaire. Bartender was not personable, slow and not knowledgeable about wines. Told guests out of wine when 6 or 7 bottles remained in plain site. IMPACT OF ISSUES: Our Chairperson spent most of evening dealing with issues which keep her from socializing with our Sponsors and Guests! Even our Director was impacted by the issues. Frustration, exhaustion, high anxiety, agitation, and total disbelief about covers our feelings for 2019 Grand Hall experience. We hope they resolve the blatant issues we dealt with this year but we will not be back.

Unprofessional! They canceled my event two weeks prior to the event. She said I can't prove anything therefore there's nothing I can about it. And she is right, but at least I know that they are not serious business people.