What it costs to rent McGowan Hall
Every rate is on this page. We would rather you worked out whether we fit your budget in two minutes than spent a week trading voicemails to find out.
Room rates
Two block lengths: up to six hours, or up to twelve. Your set up and tear down happen inside your block, so the clock starts when you walk in the door and stops when the last person leaves.
| Room | Saturday, 12 hrs | Saturday, 6 hrs | Sun to Fri, 12 hrs | Sun to Fri, 6 hrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Hall 400 seated |
$4,800 | $3,100 | $3,600 | $2,400 |
| Council Room 100 seated |
$1,400 | $900 | $1,100 | $750 |
| Bar Lounge 50 seated |
$800 | $500 | $600 | $450 |
| All three 550 across the building |
$5,800 | $3,600 | $4,400 | $2,800 |
Taking all three rooms also gives you exclusive use of our parking lot. Rates effective 31 August 2026 and confirmed at booking. Your signed rental agreement is the document that governs.
What you are not paying extra for
The venue's own way of putting it is that they would rather keep things simple than have people leave feeling nickel and dimed. In practice that means the following are part of the rental, not add ons.
- Tables and chairs. Grand Hall: up to fifty five foot rounds, twenty six foot rectangles, thirty eight foot rectangles and up to 400 black banquet chairs. Council Room: up to fifteen tables and ninety round back chairs. Bar Lounge: tables and chairs for fifty, already set.
- A clean room. The space is cleaned and ready before you arrive. Arranging the tables and chairs is yours unless you add set up below.
- Trash handling. Drums, liners, and waste taken out through the event.
- A bartender for up to five hours of event time.
- Putting the tables and chairs away after you go. That part is ours.
- Parking. Sixty five spots on our own lot, plus street parking around the Old Northside.
Not included: linens and chair covers. Most people hire these from a third party and any local rental company will deliver here.
What we ask in return: clear the tables of trash and leave the room as clean as you reasonably can before your guests head off. You do not need to stack anything or move furniture, we take care of that. Your decorations go home with you the same night. Excessive mess or debris left behind can come out of the damage deposit, which is the only reason we mention it.
Bring any caterer. No minimum.
We keep no preferred caterer list and take no commission from anyone. Use your family's caterer, your favourite restaurant, or the place that did your cousin's wedding.
The one requirement is that they prepare the food at their own facility and bring it ready to serve. Our kitchen is a staging area rather than a cooking kitchen, so it is fine for holding, plating and running food out, but it is not somewhere to cook a meal for three hundred. Whoever caters is responsible for leaving the kitchen as they found it.
There is no food or beverage minimum on any room, on any day.
The bar is ours
All alcohol is served through our bar. Outside alcohol is not permitted anywhere on the property, including the parking lot. We say that plainly here because it is the one place our flexibility stops, and nobody should discover it on the day.
- Cash bar. The default. Guests buy their own.
- Open bar, beer and wine. $20 per person.
- Open bar, beer, wine and liquor. $30 per person.
- Run a tab up to a limit you set in advance.
A fifteen percent gratuity is added to prepaid and open tab arrangements. Additional bartender time is $20 an hour per bartender beyond the five included. Tell us what beer or wine you want and, within reason, we will go and get it in for you.
The short list of extras
| Extra | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Room set up by our staff | $300 Grand Hall $150 Council Room | If you would rather not arrange tables and chairs yourself |
| Extra bartender hours | $20 per hour | Per bartender, beyond the five included |
| Going over your block | $400 Grand Hall $200 Council Room $100 Bar Lounge $500 multiple rooms | Per hour. The end time is when clean up is finished and the building is empty. |
| Night before access | Same hourly rates | Three hour minimum, subject to approval and availability |
Deposit and payment schedule
A refundable damage deposit reserves your date. It is $300 or twenty five percent of the rental, whichever is greater, and it sits separate from your balance. It comes back to you within thirty days of the event as long as the space is left in good order.
- At booking: the damage deposit. This is what actually locks the date on our calendar.
- Ninety days before: fifty percent of the balance. If you book inside ninety days, that fifty percent is due when you book.
- Fourteen days before: the remaining balance.
If a payment is missed we may release the date and let it to someone else, so talk to us early if something changes. We can look at alternative arrangements case by case.
Cancellation, stated plainly
The damage deposit is not returned if you cancel or reschedule, at any point. And no payments are refunded if an event is cancelled within ninety days of the date. We would rather you read that here than find it in a paragraph on page three.
Come and see whether the room does too
Jacob will walk you through all three rooms and answer the things a rate sheet cannot. Bring your guest count and your date.