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V O L . X X I I N O. X V 84 FA C T BO O K / D O I N G B U S I N E S S I N M A I N E M E E T I N G S / E V E N T S A top the three-story 16 Bay View, Camden's newest boutique hotel, there's a spectacular view of the harbor and its working lobster- boats, touring schooners and outer islands. It's an unobstructed view — up high, no walls — unavailable until now. So it only made sense for the hotel's developer, Marianne and Stuart Smith, to reconfi gure the roof as a 1,500-square-foot open-air event space, complete with a bar, comfy, contemporary-styled seating, and a propriety tent when needed. " is is something we can off er that isn't any- where else in Camden," says Katherine White, the hotel's group sales manager. At the lower street level on the water side, the reconstructed hotel — once a Packard car dealership on the lower fl oor and a cinema upstairs, and now incorporating repurposed elements such as historic woodwork and styling — features an indoor banquet space in what was once the dealership's garage. Here, the 2,000-square-foot space features brickwork that has been exposed and cleaned, original steel girders and industrial ceilings fi tted with elegant lighting fi xtures, and big arched and rectangular windows and double-doors looking onto Camden's narrow byways leading down to the waterfront. A third, smaller event space, on the lobby level street side, is the hotel's bar, which has the feel of an old-fashioned gentlemen's club, with overstuff ed leather furnish- ings and tasteful lighting. Incorporating space for events, banquets and meetings was part of the plan from the beginning of the rehabilitation project " e banquet space seats 120 for plated dinner reception. at's pretty unusual," says White. Diverse event spaces entering market New event and meeting spaces are coming online in droves, it seems. For Maine, a website called eventective.com says there are nearly 1,700 such venues, ranging from small B&Bs to high-tech event centers in a multitude of locations such as museums and coastal sites. e number is growing. In Portland, the restaurant TIQA has private event space that accommodates 85 guests seated or 120 theater style. It is equipped with a private bar and entrances, sound-proofi ng, sound system, three fl at-screen monitors and wireless capability. Also in Portland, Rising Tide Brewing Co. saw a way to leverage its expanded tasting room, capital- izing on the events marketplace. It put into play two concepts: off ering a 275-square-foot roped-off portion for small events of up to 50 people during open hours, or the entire 1500-square-foot space for private parties outside of tasting room hours, for groups of up to 175 people indoors or, during good weather, opening up to a large outdoor area, thus accommodating 250 people — either option would be great for events such as birthday and retirement parties, family reunions, busi- ness activities and the like. "We've had people who have reached out to us over the years for private events, but because the space was so small, we weren't able to accommodate much. We used to be able to accommodate only 49 people," says Heather Sanborn, the company's co-owner and direc- tor of business operations. But the company's expan- sion, completed in December, now allows it to be part of the trending event industry, she says. e space overlooks the brew-production area and has direct service to a 43-foot-long L-shaped bar. e concept has allowed the company to expand its marketing program, with the hire of a dedicated marketing spe- cialist who has been booking steadily for this year and already has some events booked for 2017. "I think people are looking to hold events in places that have character. And our tasting room does," Sanborn says. In southern Maine, Cliff House, a 19th century hotel on 70 acres on Cape Neddick, recently completed renovations. It has 25,000 square feet of fl exible func- tion space, including a ballroom and 150-seat amphi- theater. e site can cater to everything from meeting presentations to weddings for up to 300 attendees. And it off ers panoramic views of the ocean. "We reinvented the existing meeting space and add- ed the ballroom," says Scott Spann, Cliff House's gen- eral manager. "Our strategy of adding more event space is to reach key markets such as Boston and Portland. It provides us with the ability to attract additional cor- porate users and, with the ocean views, we anticipate a signifi cant increase in weddings. Our goal for 2017 is to do over 60 weddings, and to see that number continue to grow. We're seeing signifi cant demand on the wed- ding side. We're getting four to fi ve site visits per week." An hour northwest of Portland, a $25 million hotel expansion is in the works at Oxford Casino. Developer Churchill Downs Inc. plans 100 guest rooms, added dining options, fl exible meetings-and-banquet space, expansion of the gaming fl oor and other amenities. It is expected to open by summer 2017. Louisville-based Churchill Downs acquired the property in July 2013. Demand for event space is growing Elissa English, director of sales and marketing for the Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau, says there's great opportunity in this market. " ere's defi nitely an increase in demand for event space," says English. e bureau's metrics include the referrals it makes for services, accommodations and facilities. From 2014 to 2015, the increase in referrals, overall, was in the 70 percentile range. Portland's boom in hotel construc- tion aims to accommodate the traveler infl ux, but there remains a huge need for event space, she says. "Events run the gamut," she says, citing examples such as destination weddings; association business on the state, regional and national level; and corpo- rate programming that comes to Maine for team- building or retreats and incentives. " e corporate market is the largest growth mar- ket in team travel and retreats, and we in Maine ca- ter well to that," says English. "What better natural backdrop is there than Maine, where you can access everything easily but feel so removed?" L aUr i e S C H r e i be r, a w r i te r ba s e d i n B a s s Ha r bo r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t e d i t o r i a l @ m a i n e b i z . b i z P H O T O / L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R Events take center stage New venues are catering to corporate and special events B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r Katherine White, group sales manager at 16 Bay View, a new boutique hotel in Camden, stands on the hotel's 1,500-square- foot open-air event space overlooking the harbor.