On Sunday, June 1, Judges Road Event Center opened its doors as a special event space. The facility, which is being leased by former Wilmington judge Shelly Holt, will be available at affordable rates to nonprofits and individuals looking for meeting space, Holt said.
 
Holt signed the $1500-a-month lease this spring, planning to use the space for her scrapbooking business.
 
“There is a large group of women that like scrapbooking,” Holt said. “We have scrapbooking [meetups] once a month and instead of going all over town, we thought ‘Wow, it would be nice for us to have a space for scrapbooking.'”
 
The 1,800-square-foot unit is located at 311 Judges Road, Unit 2B. It's perfect for nonprofit organizations needing space, Holt said on Monday.
 
“I also saw the need for space coming from the nonprofit area,” Holt said. “A lot of small nonprofits don’t even have offices.”
 
On June 1, Holt held an open house for the unit. About 50 people attended.
 
The space was previously occupied by a convenience store, said Pam Wooddell, broker and owner of Live Oak Real Estate, who negotiated the lease.
 
The starting rate is $35 for four hours. Nonprofits are given 10 free hours a year, Holt said.