Legislative History: Adopted September 19, 2017 (By-law No. CPOL.-193-445); Amended July 24, 2018 (By-law No. CPOL.-193(a)-426); Amended June 11, 2019 (By-law No. CPOL.-193(b)-156); Amended August 20, 2021 (By-law No. CPOL.-193(c)257)
Last Review Date: July 25, 2023
Service Area Lead: City Clerk
1. Policy Statement
1.1 This policy outlines the requirements associated with use of the City of London Community Suite at Budweiser Gardens.
2. Definitions
2.1 Not applicable.
3. Applicability
3.1 This policy shall apply to The Corporation of the City of London and local charitable volunteer groups for corporate use and community promotion for all events, except east end stage events (small concert mode) to be held in Budweiser Gardens.
4. The Policy
4.1 Tickets
The Suite includes ten tickets for all London Knights regular season games. Tickets for other events are purchased on an event basis.
4.2 Eligible Community Groups
Access to the Community Suite is limited to registered charities, incorporated non-profits, minor sports associations’ administration, neighbourhood associations that are involved in fundraising for projects that are related to the repair, enhancement, construction or preservation of a City-owned or operated facility or the development and operation of a City-operated or supported program activity, and service clubs that are based in the City of London. Groups applying to use the Suite must provide a description of the group or organization, the legal name of the group, a contact and name of the person responsible for all costs associated with the use of the Suite, and the details on the proposed use of the Suite (e.g. fundraising, reward program for volunteers, etc.) Each group will be limited to one application. City schools are eligible for fundraising purposes only. A School may use the Suite only once. It is not the intent to draw individual classes within a School to utilize the Suite.
4.3 Allocation of Dates
a) A list of events will be prepared, identifying community use event dates and City event dates in four month intervals.
b) The standing committee whose mandate includes such matters, and the City Manager, will identify those dates that the Suite will be used for City business.
c) The City Manager shall be authorized to approve use of the Community Suite in those circumstances where an international or national event requires the use of the Community Suite as a bid condition in order to secure the event, and the City Manager shall be required to advise the Municipal Council of any such approval upon his/her notification that the subject bid was successful.
d) The dates not being utilized for City purposes will be allocated by way of a draw or random lottery. A group submitting an application will list its priority for available events. The selected group will confirm its selection within five business days of being notified of an available date. In allocating event dates, those groups requesting only hockey will be distinguished from those groups requesting non-hockey events.
e) Any eligible group refusing a date, once selected, shall remain eligible for future draws.
f) All eligible groups not selected shall remain eligible for future draws.
g) Once a group has used the Suite, they will not be eligible for re-use of the Suite until all other eligible groups have been offered use of the Suite.
4.4 Requirements of the User Group
a) The user groups will be responsible for the behaviour of their users and will be required to abide by the same rules as other Suite holders.
b) Each group will be responsible for all food and beverage costs, ticket costs (except regular season London Knights hockey games) and damages associated with the use of the Suite.
c) Each group will be required to pay a $250 refundable cheque to be used as security for the use of the Suite, provide proof of insurance, and must sign a waiver form for liability and provide evidence of Commercial General Liability insurance for an amount not less than $2,000,000, which includes the City as an additional insured.
d) Where tickets are required to be purchased for an event, groups will be required to purchase those tickets 10 business days prior to the event.
4.5 City Use of the Suite
a) The City’s use of the Suite will be governed by Municipal Council based on the recommendation of the standing committee whose mandate it is to deal with such matters, excluding those uses authorized by the City Manager for international or national events requiring the use of the Community Suite as a bid condition in order to secure those events.
b) The City’s use of the Suite is intended for community promotion, industrial and tourism promotion, and to recognize groups which may include persons serving on City committees and recipients of special recognition awards etc.
c) The Suite will be available to affiliated Boards and Commissions for similar purposes as the City. Affiliated Boards and Commissions will not be considered an eligible community group for the use of the Suite, but under the policies that govern City use of the Suite.
d) The cost of using the Suite by the City will be borne by the City and budgeted by the City Clerk and in the case of affiliated Boards and Commissions, or others that use the Suite, the cost will be borne by the user.
4.6 Administration of the Suite
The City Clerk is the primary contact for user groups and is delegated responsibility to administer this policy.