Rental rates have been slashed by the City of Hamilton to help reduce the financial strains faced by residents, community groups, small businesses and local charities caused by Covid-19.

“Due to the limited capacity of social gatherings as per the Bermuda Government’s Covid-19 guidelines, clients are restricted from using the full capacity of our venues and thus this limits the number of attendees,” said the City’s director of marketing and communications Jessica Astwood.

“This directly impacts the number of tickets that can be sold and, in turn, the revenue needed by organisers to cover the event. We wanted to give back to the community and encourage whatever limited gatherings that are safe to take place.

“In the age of Covid-19, there is a demand for more open-air and drive-by events. For example, we have really seen an increase in clients who are looking to do full-scale productions outdoors in our parks, so we focused on reducing costs for those venues specifically.”

The City said hourly rental rates for Bermuda’s parks will be reduced by more than 50 per cent.

The rental rate for Bull’s Head Car Park will also be reduced, at a ‘per level’ rate, by 50 per cent. Additionally, the City has created a day permit rate for the venue to facilitate smaller events like exercise classes and drive-by functions.

The rental rates for the Earl Cameron Theatre will be reduced by 30 per cent for 2021 only.

The Pier 6 Waterfront Complex has also reduced its rates for both the upper and lower levels – the all-day standard rate for Pier 6, lower level, has gone from $2,900 to $1,800.

The new rates are effective immediately but the City of Hamilton said that when Bermuda’s post-Covid-19 economy is in recovery, they will be revisited.