Parties At The Roundhouse? City Council Looks At Allowing Rentals

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — The Manhattan Beach City Council will look at whether or not to allow private party rentals of the Roundhouse Aquarium at its Tuesday, June 15 regularly scheduled meeting. If allowed, the rentals would be the first time the aquarium has been allowed to offer evening rentals to raise funds for the aquarium, said Grace Adams, executive director of the Roundhouse.

City Council will look at approving a Memorandum of Understanding with Oceanographic Teaching Stations, the Roundhouse's parent company, for a six-month pilot program. If approved, the city would be paid 15% of the aggregate amount of all "License Fees" received from the use of the Roundhouse for authorized events. Those fees would be allocated to the State Pier and Parking Lot Fund., according to agenda materials.

"Like many businesses and organizations, we have suffered a significant loss of revenue because of the measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19," Adams told MB Patch. "Our anticipated losses for this fiscal year are 18-20%." With the Manhattan Beach Pier being allowed to reopen on Monday (June 15), she anticipates the Roundhouse will reopen to the public in a matter of days.

The board of directors of the OTS, which manages the Roundhouse Aquarium, came up with the pay-for-evening-rentals idea "to help diversify the organization's sources of funding and revenue," she said. The MOU as being presented allows alcohol at the private rentals, however, it cannot be sold at the rented activities. Cooking will not be allowed but catering can be used. Rentals would be limited to a maximum of 40 people and could only be used for birthday parties, neighborhood dinners, appreciation events, speakers/lectures, and corporate gatherings. The city would have to approve of each rental and would have to be given seven days' advance notice of a rental. Private security would be required for rentals expecting 20 or more people and all events would be held between the hours of 8 and 10:30 p.m. in the summer (May-October) and 6 and 10:30 p.m. during the winter (November to April).

Events at the Roundhouse would be "subject to any and all limitations and protocols from the State and County Health Officers with regard to COVID-19," according to the agenda. In addition, the city will be able to use the Roundhouse up to ten times per year for special functions and City events "shall take precedence over any authorized events."

Note: MB City Council meetings are held online due to COVID-19. Details on how to comment in advance of meetings and how to watch them live is posted online.