Event venue offers to host prom following NOAH’s closure
NEW ALBANY, Ohio (WCMH) — A local school district is out thousands of dollars after booking their prom with NOAH’s Event Venues, which abruptly shut its doors this week.
With prom just a couple months away, they have been scrambling to find a new location.
An event center that isn’t even open yet stepped up Tuesday to help the students from Cardington Lincoln High School.
Four Seasons Barn is still under construction, with stacks of wood planks on the ground and an unfinished ceiling.
However, this April, close to 300 students from Cardington Lincoln will be there dancing the night away on prom night.
“We were so glad to help anyway. They are in our community, so our goal is to give back to the community anyway, so this is the ideal way to do it,” owner Beth Clemons said.
Students originally booked with NOAH’s event venue, but when it abruptly shut down this week, they were out $2,000. It was money the students raised.
“Starting as freshmen, they do fundraisers to make sure they have the best prom they can,” superintendent Brian Petrie said.
Heather Clapham’s daughter is going to prom and said the past 24 hours have been stressful.
“Especially because it was already going to cost them that much and they paid the money and everything,” Clapham said.
The superintendent said they were trying to find another location for prom when the owners of Four Seasons Barn said they would help out by waiving the rental fee.
“They couldn’t believe that we were going to do that, but we couldn’t imagine doing anything else, it’s the right thing to do,” Clemons said.
Although the school district didn’t find out about the closure from NOAH’s, they said cutting their losses and moving on was the best thing to do for the students.
“I think it’s a bad thing, but obviously it’s a business decision as well,” Clapham said. “They should have given notice is what they should have done.”
NOAH’s corporation sent emails to some people who booked with them and stated that they will still allow for some events to be held in the NOAH’s buildings.
NBC 4 reached out to them for a second time, but have yet to hear back.