Ever wonder about the castle-like building south of town? The one with all the windows, parapets and even a few fountains? It’s the new Castle Manor reception center built by Alan Elder. “We had actually been planning on doing this for about eighteen years,” said Elder at the open house held in January. “My wife went to Europe about ten years ago and she took pictures of all the castles. We have slowly been drawing plans and coming up with ideas until we finally got it.”

And what he got was a 21,000 square foot facility for dances, weddings, receptions, family reunions, birthday parties, corporate events and more. Amanda Russ is Events Coordinator of Castle Manor. She says they have four main areas of the building that can be rented separately, that it’s design allows these events to happen simultaneously without interfering with each other.

“The hardest part was getting the engineers on the same page as myself,” added Elder. “And I actually had to draw them out, almost to scale how we wanted it.”

The main hall has a large bank of windows overlooking a large open floor which today was set up with chairs but could serve as a banquet area, a dance, or wedding. A curved staircase leads to a large balcony over the main floor.

There is a somewhat smaller reception area on the second floor complete with a bridal room with private bathroom. There is also a nice room on the third floor with a walkway around the outside to each of the parapets. Inside each parapet is a small room. Someone visiting the reception center commented it might make a great place for games or creative business meetings. Have the main room for the group and use the parapets for smaller breakout sessions.

An elevator gives easy access to all areas of the center.

“We also have a couple of outside areas, a water fountain in the back, and 30 foot by 30 foot pavilion on the side,” said Russ.

The main floor houses a commercial kitchen complete with private entrance so food preparations don’t interfere with ongoing functions. Russ says they require all events to use either a licensed caterer or they can use the kitchen if they have the proper food handlers permit. The food has to be prepared by a licensed person as required by the health department.

Business for Castle Manor is going well with at least one event booked each weekend until March. On March 27 they plan to host the Wedding Showcase.

“Well, honestly, Castle Manor is great for any event from small groups to huge groups,” added Russ. “We can handle 1,400 people at one time. If they have a group that big, we can handle it.”

For more information on Castle Manor visit www.castlemanoronline.com or call 435-563-0774.