Stephen Maceli wanted to give Lawrence a new place to party downtown, but he didn’t open a bar.

Instead, Maceli opened a new banquet hall at 1031 N.H. in a building that formerly housed the Heartland Community Church. The business, named Maceli’s, is an expansion of Maceli’s catering business, which previously was in a smaller space at 1119 Mass. The business officially opened Friday at its new location.

Maceli said his business, which he co-owns with Allie Collier, had outgrown the previous location. Maceli said the new 10,000-square-foot spot would allow the business to cater more events on-site, while previously many of his catering jobs were at other locations in town.

“We wanted something with a great location and some personality,” Maceli said. “And we wanted it to be downtown. We love downtown. I want us to become a destination point.”

Maceli said the new location could accommodate about 300 people for a sit-down dinner or close to 400 people for a less formal event. In the new kitchen, Maceli will be able to produce 1,000 meals per day, up from about 250 at his previous location.

Maceli plans on renting the hall for $1,250 per event with additional fees for catering. He’s predicting the expansion will provide a significant boost to his business.

He said his catering business had grown from about $120,000 in revenues three years ago to about $500,000. He expects the new banquet services to increase revenues by about 50 percent.

“This will just give us such a greater presence in the city,” Maceli said.

Stephen Maceli stands inside his catering business, Maceli's, 1031 N.H. Maceli moved the business from 1119 Mass. so he could provide on-site catering. He had an open house Friday at the new location.

Others in the banquet business said they thought there was room for another large operator.

Garrett Stults, general manager at the Ramada Inn, 2222 W. Sixth St., said the demand for banquet facilities in Lawrence was fairly high.

“I think there is enough business to go around,” Stults said. “It will create more competition, but I think everybody will continue to do all right.”

Stults said there was a need for several facilities because Lawrence was a popular city for wedding receptions, and most people want to book a venue for a Saturday. Stults also said Kansas University added a large amount of demand for banquet facilities in the city.

“The university creates a lot of demand for space that you wouldn’t have in other towns,” Stults said.