Pure Space, Portland’s newest event and meeting venue, is ready to fill its calendar with bookings after staging successful early events for corporations, VIPs, school fundraisers and brides-to-be in its first two months of operation.
Pure Space already has hosted events for guests ranging from 20 to nearly 1,000. The facility has 10,000 square feet of flat space, roughly equivalent to two NBA-sized basketball courts, plus a fully-equipped VIP mezzanine. It has two sides of solid glass walls and an arched ceiling that rises above 25 feet.
“Pure Space is the city’s newest and most flexible meeting space where you can create whatever environment you desire, from elegant receptions to industry conferences,” said Duane Smith, president of West Coast Event Productions (WCEP) which operates Pure Space.
Pure Space is receiving encouraging feedback from early events.
“The room was stunning and every rental we requested was placed just according to our layout,” said Heather Matheny, associate publisher of Oregon Bride magazine which hosted an evening reception for 500 brides-to-be. “We loved Pure Space because it was a blank slate that allowed us to create whatever vision we wanted with no limits. They have all the rentals you need to make your vision come to life. I would recommend West Coast Event Productions and Pure Space to anyone.”
Pure Space was selected to host an 800-guest celebration of life for the late Al Reser, CEO of Reser’s Fine Foods; just a week after the Reser family was involved in a 400-person Oregon State University alumni event at the venue.
“We were looking for venues and it was prom and wedding time so most venues were booked,” said Pat Reser, Al’s wife. “What appealed to me is the openness of the facility and that you are not encumbered by someone else’s décor, also because of the high ceilings the space doesn’t feel crowded.”
April Severson, owner of April Severson Events, held an event at Pure Space and has two fall events booked involving groups of 250 and 1,000.
“I love the light and open feeling created by the walls of windows,” said Severson. “It is a blank canvas, which can be designed to develop a look or mood in any direction.”
Pure Space has more than a dozen approved caterers, including Art of Catering in Portland.
“We are excited to have a venue that can accommodate this many guests, and look forward to sharing it with our clients,” said Jen Loveland, Art of Catering’s senior event coordinator. “It is a very user-friendly catering space, and we were able to create an intimate meeting environment in a large space.”
Unlike most hotel and convention center venues, Pure Space is easily accessible for guests, suppliers, caterers and exhibitors on a flat city block corner, which is important in a city of hills, with multiple double-door entrances and loading areas.
Pure Space is equipped with standard lighting and sound systems that can be enhanced to large-scale lighting and special effects for major events. It has a large-capacity electrical distribution system along all four walls for multi-exhibit tradeshows and events, and offers 200 internet connections.
Just a block away from Pure Space, WCEP maintains its primary warehouse of furniture, décor, lighting, tents, audio-visual equipment and supplies, which is used by WCEP staff to stage more than 10,000 events a year.
