A Massachusetts hotel hosted back-to-back events last weekend that far exceeded the state’s 100-person capacity limit on outdoor events during the pandemic, despite multiple warnings from government officials tipped off to the plans, according to complaints received by state and local officials, Boston Business Journal reported.
The hotel was the site of a wedding on Saturday that had 240 guests and 70 staff members, according to a summary of allegations against the venue provided by the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards. The Business Journal obtained the summary through a public records request.
One of the people who got married on Aug. 1 is a family member of Nicole Moorshead, the general manager of the wedding venue, the Colonial Hotel in Gardner, according to Lauren Saunders, Gardner's director of public health.
Then on the following day, the hotel was the site of yet another event that had 190 guests, according to a summary of allegations against the Colonial. Complaints identified the event as a wedding reception for unrelated guests, according to Saunders.
Local public health officials received several complaints about the size of the wedding and issued multiple warnings, along with guidance on gatherings issued by the governor, Gardner Assistant Director of Public Health Richard Rossi said in a statement to NBC10 Boston.
"After reviewing the complaint that we received, we are issuing a civil citation with a fine of $300 for each event. The City has not received a formal, written complaint regarding the bar, dance floor, or mask violations at this time. If we receive other complaints, we will certainly investigate those as they come in," Rossi said.
Read more in the Boston Business Journal.
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NBC10 Boston's Joy Lim Nakrin contributed to this report.
