City Council Approves New Event Center

Elk Grovians looking for a place to hold a wedding or family reunion will likely soon have one more option to choose from, after the City Council Wednesday approved plans for on Elk Grove Blvd.

Utah company The Falls says it's had success in the Midwest and Southwest offering low-cost rental space for meetings and parties, and wants to bring the same concept to Elk Grove.

The Falls of Elk Grove will occupy two 13,000-plus-square-foot buildings on Elk Grove Blvd between Big Horn Blvd and Laguna Springs Drive, according to documents filed with the city—right next to the site of the city's .

It will include a main hall that can hold close to 300 people, smaller game and meeting rooms and a theater. The company's chief financial officer, David Sullivan, said the largest room would likely rent for about $2,000 per day, with smaller spaces available for less, and customers would be free to use their own caterers and decorators.

"It's kind of like a do-it-yourself model," he said. "We build the building to be an extension of your home."

Sullivan said The Falls of Elk Grove, the company's first project on the West Coast, would not compete with the conference facilities planned for the civic center, since it would host smaller gatherings.

Council members agreed, but warned Sullivan his company needed to come up with a security plan to keep parties from getting out of hand.

"You need uniformed security or off-duty law enforcement to deter someone," said Mayor Jim Cooper. "It can't be Barney Fife in uniform. It has to be someone people are going to respect."

In the end, council members voted 4-0 (Vice Mayor Patrick Hume was absent) to rezone the property from light industrial to office use to accomodate the project.

Cooper said the city's existing event venues were filled to capacity.

"The Wackford Complex is always booked, the Pavilion [at Elk Grove Park] and Laguna Town Hall are booked," he said. "There is a need for meeting space."

Sullivan said the company hoped to break ground on the project in July and open in Spring 2013.