Renting
its city building for weekend events brings mixed blessings
to Hyde Park
GO ON IN: The basement
of the Hyde Park City Office Building, 113 E. Hyde Park
Lane, has a walk-out entrance that works well for wedding
lines and receptions. / Photo by Brittny Goodsell
Jones
By Brittny
Goodsell Jones
September 18, 2008 | HYDE PARK -- A few years ago,
Mayor Dave Kooyman said he got a problematic phone call
about oregano.
The call came from a Hyde Park city staff member who
said a bag of oregano had been left behind by a group
after a party at the city building. When the mayor went
down to investigate, he got a surprise.
The oregano was a bag of marijuana.
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"The staff member hadn't seen marijuana
before and didn't know what it looked like," Kooyman
said.
Stuff like this doesn't happen very often at
Hyde Park's city office buildings, but when it
does, Kooyman said the group isn't allowed to
rent out the city building anymore for any reason.
The Hyde Park city building can be rented out
for community events such as weddings, dances,
birthday parties, anniversaries and baptisms.
Town residents pay a $50 fee to use the building
as well as a $50 cleaning deposit, which is only
forfeited if the room is not cleaned after being
used. And everyone is not as careless in their
stay as the "oregano" group was, the mayor said.
Besides the bag of marijuana left behind, there
has only been one other incident that caused problems.
During the first weekend in September, a group
left alcohol bottles and beer cans around the
perimeter of the building, some of them hidden
around bushes and trees.
"I hate to see it because we take care to see
that the building is taken care of and expect
people to do the same," Kooyman said. "I was disappointed
we had a group that ignored it so blatantly. It
concerns me that people ignore things like that."
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The upstairs room holds eight large tables that
seat about 50-60 people. When the chairs are stacked,
about 150 people can be in the room. / Photo
by Brittny Goodsell Jones |
Besides breaking the rules of having alcohol on the
premises, the group didn't clean up thoroughly, Kooyman
said, and their cleaning deposit wasn't given back to
them. And even though the building curfew is midnight,
the group didn't leave until after 1:10 a.m., Kooyman
said.
"They seemed surprised and acted like they had no
idea," Kooyman said. "I'll believe they weren't aware
of (all the rules) but I find it hard to believe they
left and didn't see the bottles all around the area."
Carlene Umpleby, administrative assistant at the city
building, said when a member of that group came to claim
the cleaning deposit, the person was disappointed at
not getting the money back. The particular group had
signed a contract, however, that told the members the
rules so there should not have been any surprises, she
said. The contract comes in English and Spanish so even
if a group member isn't fluent in English, Umpleby said,
a Spanish contract can be signed.
Sometimes the language barrier can be a problem, she
said, but the city doesn't mind renting to any nationalities
-- what matters is that each group cleans up after the
event is done.
Susan Balls, treasurer, said she agrees. As much as
the building is rented out there are very few problems
to deal with, she said.
After an incident like that, the mayor said the staff
moves on and cleans up. What helps is knowing that 90
percent of the groups involved are appreciative of the
building, he said, and do treat it correctly.
Built in 1996, the building originally held about
150 people in the only space available. Now the number
has more than doubled since the finished basement can
be used for larger gatherings like family reunions and
wedding receptions.
The building is rented out almost every weekend during
the summer and Balls said many weekends are double-booked.
Because of the large use of the building, keys are not
copied and given out for access during an event. Instead,
Kooyman said the staff takes turns opening and closing
the building. A separate cell phone is also used and
rotated among staff members. When someone wants to get
in the building for an event, he or she can call the
cell phone number.
For more information, contact Hyde Park city offices
at 563-6507.
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