Rental Policies
Your Rental Includes
One site-visit with a Town Hall Event Coordinator (24 hours notice is required to cancel a site visit otherwise labor charges may apply.)
House Staff will be on site for your contracted rental time. House Staff serve as the official Town Hall representative; help renters have successful events by providing superior customer service; provide for the safety and security of Town Hall users and Town Hall building and property.
The role of House Staff is to maintain order, safety, security and direction in the building during set up, tear down and during the event. House Staff will monitor vehicle loading/unloading, exterior noise levels, and pedestrian traffic flow before and after events. House Staff coordinate and supervise renters in break down and clean up of the building by providing advice, supplies and assistance.
A variety of equipment is included in the rental of Town Hall. Any equipment needed that is not on the following Equipment List can be rented by Town Hall and charged back to the renter. Any damage to the equipment is the full responsibility of the renter with repair or replacement charges determined by Town Hall. All prices are per room per day. Contact your Event Coordinator for assistance in selecting and securing equipment for your event.
| EQUIPMENT LIST | |
| Concert Pianos | |
| 7’ Steinway B 2004: Great Hall* | $ 200 |
| 7’ Heintzman: Lobby* | $ 200 |
| 5’10” Steinway Hamburg Model “o” 1921: Downstairs at Town Hall* | $ 200 |
| Stage Extensions | |
| Great Hall stage extensions | $ 200 |
| Automatic Sound System (no operator) | |
| One microphone with boom or table stand, house speakers | $ 40 |
| Sound System Great Hall (includes sound operator) | |
| 16 and 24 Channel Mackie mixer, 12 microphones, 31 band DBX Eqs, 2 450 powered speakers, 2 JBL EON 10 monitor speakers | $ 25 per hour |
| Sound System Downstairs at Town Hall (includes sound operator) | |
| 16 Channel Mackie mixer, 2 DBX Eqs, 12 Channel DBX 166 compressor, 4 microphones | $ 25 per hour |
| Projection | |
| Overhead projector | $ 25 |
| 9x12 Screen (cradle) | $ 40 |
| 8x12 Screen (tripod) | $ 25 |
| Stage Lights | |
| Great Hall - Six down pars, four Source 4s, and nine Source 4s | No Charge |
| Downstairs – 2 Source Fours, 8 Fresnels, and 1 par | No Charge |
| Lighting Operator (cue to cue) | $ 25 per hour |
| Tables and Chairs | No equipment charge. Labor charges apply. |
| 30 - 6’x30” rectangular tables | |
| 20 - 60” round tables | |
| 180 folding chairs | |
| 30 stackable armchairs | |
| 200 stackable black musician/cafe chairs. | |
| 10 - Wenger musician chairs | |
| 5 - High-backed, upholstered stools | |
| Choral Risers | |
| 5 (3 with rails) | No Charge |
| Podium (Lectern) | |
| 2 available | No Charge |
| Manhasset Music Stands | |
| 50 available | No Charge |
|
*Includes tuning and one rehearsal |
Accessibility
Town Hall is fully ADA accessible, including restrooms with ramping and elevators for those in need.
Three assisted listening devices are available on a limited basis upon request.
Timing and Planning
You will be charged from the time the first person associated with your organization enters the building, until the last person (volunteer, audience member, caterer or other service personnel) associated with your event leaves the building. Town Hall will staff your event and will be open and ready for your group at the time indicated on your Agreement for Use of Town Hall.
The building must be cleared of audience members/guests no later than 11pm Sunday - Thursday and 12 mid-night on Fridays and Saturdays. Service personnel are permitted to remain in the building until rental spaces have been torn-down and cleaned.
Set-up and Teardown
The charge for set-up and teardown is $100 per venue. This rate includes set-up/tear down of banquet rounds and chairs, classroom style with chairs, assorted tables for receptions and book signings, and orchestral performance equipment staging.
Catering
Town Hall has several preferred caterers. Use of an outside caterer is permitted, but requires Town Hall approval and a service charge of $150. All caterers are charged a venue use fee based on gross food and beverage sales. Town Hall has no cooking facilities so all food must be prepared by your caterer off-site.
Should your organization choose to provide commercially prepared foods and/or beverages at your event, a $50 food service fee will be required. Potluck and home-cooked meals are not permitted.
Town Hall permits the serving of beer and wine. Should a renter choose to serve hard liquor, Town Hall, at its sole option, may require security guards, additional House Staff, added security deposit, at the expense of the renter.
Town Hall does not permit kegs.
The liquor license/banquet permit is the responsibility of the caterer. Licensed bartenders must serve hard liquor. Please confer with Town Hall about any event where alcohol will be served.
Concessions
Concession sales are subject to a charge of 15% of the total gross. Books and CD sales are subject to a charge of 5% of the total gross.
Town Hall serves coffee, tea, soda, and cookies in the lobby before most public shows and during intermission.
Town Hall can provide further options for coffee service. Please inquire with our Venue Sales Director, should you wish to serve coffee at your event.
Admissions Tax
Renter is responsible for obtaining any and all appropriate performing rights or licenses prior to the event, when performing rights or licenses are required. This includes ASCAP and BMI music licensing for any music used, be it specific or incidental to the event.
Seattle Municipal Code 5.40.020 requires an admissions tax be levied and imposed on every individual admitted to any event for which there is a charge for admission, whether or not that person has paid for admission, and that such admissions tax be remitted to the City of Seattle. Certain non-profit Arts or Human Services organizations may be exempt from the collection of admissions tax after receiving an exemption from the Seattle License and Tax Enforcement Office (206/684-8484). Renter certifies to Town Hall that 1) they collect and remit admissions tax per SMC 5.40.020 or 2) have received an exemption from the City of Seattle. Renter furthermore indemnifies and holds Town Hall harmless from Renter’s responsibility for collecting and remitting admissions tax as required by law.
Material Shipments
Town Hall can accept Material Shipments on a limited and pre-arranged basis. Please inform the Event Services Director prior to shipping any materials to Town Hall. We do not have secure storage available and accept no responsibility for materials shipped prior to the arrival of your group.
Cleaning and Refuse
Every event is allowed up to three 30-gallon plastic trash bags of refuse to be disposed of at no charge. Beyond that, it is the renter’s responsibility to remove any refuse, including recyclables from the building to be disposed of offsite on the day of the event. All caterers are required to remove all refuse and recyclables from Town Hall on the day of the event. Any refuse beyond the allotted amount will incur a charge of $10 per bag.
Vacuums, brooms and other cleaning supplies will be made available to renters to return the spaces used to the condition in which it was found. Special cleaning required after an event (for example, excessive spillage/staining on rugs and floors) will be charged to the renter at a janitorial rate of $20/hour.
Safety and Security
Some events, for various reasons (including, but not limited to, crowd size, number of volunteers, the complexity of set-up, presence of children, serving of alcohol) require additional House Staff or Security Personnel. Town Hall reserves the right to add, at the renter’s expense, additional managers or professional security to make your event safe and successful. Town Hall will inform you before the event, should additional staff or security be required.
Load-in and Load-out
The public sidewalk in front of Town Hall on 8th Avenue cannot be blocked for any length of time. There is a loading zone on 8th Avenue on the East side of the street as well as a loading zone on Seneca St., just in front of the Seneca entrance. Additionally, there is a public alley behind Town Hall that can be used for load-in and load-out purposes.
Quiet Hours
All load in/load out is to be arranged with Town Hall’s Event Services in advance.
Town Hall is located in a residential zone. Seattle’s noise ordinance is in effect from 10 pm-7 am weekdays and 10 pm - 9 am weekends. Please help Town Hall to be a good neighbor and retain the capability of holding great events by maintaining quiet during any activity around Town Hall and while exiting Town Hall after 10 pm.
Site Visits – Operations
For very detailed and large events, we recommend a site visit with our Event Services Director. Town Hall encourages full group site visits, which include caterers and clients at the same time.
Please work with Town Hall’s Event Services Director to schedule a site visit at a mutually agreeable time.
Insurance
Renter must obtain, at their sole expense, a certificate of liability insurance naming Town Hall Association & Town Hall, LLC as certificate holder and additional insured with a minimum per occurrence of $1,000,000 personal and property coverage.
Gales Creek Insurance of Portland, OR (503-227-0491) and R.V. Nuccio & Associates (800-567-2685) specialize in single-day/special event insurance coverage.
Security Deposit and Payment
Based on information provided in renter’s application, Town Hall will issue a cost estimate and letter of agreement. A refundable security deposit equal to 30% of your estimated rental is required to hold your date. Full payment is due 14 days prior to the event. A $25 late payment fee will be assessed for each calendar day that payment is late. NOTE: The security deposit is in addition to the rental fee.
If dates, or parts thereof, are cancelled more than sixty days prior to the event, one half of the security deposit is refundable. Cancellation fewer than sixty days prior to the event will forfeit the entire security deposit.
Other Recommended Vendors
Town Hall works with many different vendors throughout Seattle based on their customer service and knowledge of Town Hall. Please ask a Town Hall event coordinator for assistance.
Town Hall is not available for weddings or wedding receptions. Please visit www.banquetevent.com for a list of suitable wedding reception venues.