Rehoboth eyes hourly rates or fee for convention hall

Looking to take full advantage of a refurbished convention center, a Rehoboth committee is exploring hourly rates for the space.

Rehoboth Commissioner Steve Scheffer introduced a draft of hourly rates during a Rehoboth Beach Bandstand, Convention Hall, Special Events Committee meeting Sept. 23.

There’s a lot of potential for varied uses, said Scheffer, who, along with Commissioner Lisa Schlosser, is a committee liaison for the board of commissioners. This is a chance to make the convention center a real cornerstone for the community, he said.

Currently, the convention center has daily rates – Monday through Thursday and Friday through Sunday, with lower rates for nonprofit groups.

According to a handout prepared by Scheffer, the proposed hourly rate for nonprofit entities would be $75 an hour and $100 an hour for for-profit groups. There are also half-day rates of $250 for nonprofits and $300 for for-profits.

These rates are competitive, said Scheffer, adding rates are year-round, during normal city business hours.

Schlosser said hourly rates would encourage local groups to use the convention center during the week, when the building is otherwise empty.

City employee Steve Perry takes convention center reservations. He said he was on board with hourly rates, but he would like to see a protocol for booking policies.

Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival President Denny Santangini said he would like to see the committee look at renting out city hall parking lot during the off-season. He said people don’t care about the price; they just want to know they have a place to park.

Santangini also suggested the committee recommend to city commissioners an investment into sound, lighting and kitchen supplies. As it is now, he said, jazz festival acts need to bring everything, and food vendors have nothing in the kitchen but a stove and refrigerator.

Following the discussion on hourly rates, the committee formally voted to recommend to council keeping all other convention center rates the same for 2020.

Perry suggested if the committee were thinking about changing the rates for 2021, to do so in early 2020, because, he said, a lot of groups schedule use of the convention center almost immediately after their event is over.

Moving forward, it was agreed upon by the committee that Scheffer and committee member Petr Spurney would work on creating protocols, and bring them back for discussion at the next committee meeting.