SAFETY
New York’s famed Apollo Theater calls on fellow performing arts centers to beef up security operations. By Joe Levy
Safety and Security. We are hearing this phrase with increasing
frequency. Global occurrences of catastrophic events overwhelm our news feeds and industry conversations. Our world has changed. Our in our venues has changed. The performing art centers in our industry are making progress to
catch up with the other sectors, though many are facing internal resis- tance from their leadership and Boards. Those of us that have direct our stakeholders of the importance of increasing safety and security in spite of ongoing international events. Resistance and push back against implementing basic security prac-
tices (e.g., hand-held metal detection, bag checks, and additional secu- rity personnel) are common. It likely stems from an unconscious per- ception of the loss of innocence. In other words, it must mean a venue is inherently unsafe if they agree to implement heightened security procedures. While that may have been the opinion in the past, it will never be that way again. We all, as an industry, can strive to successful- ly convince those that believe in that ideology to carefully reconsider.
procedure for her facility’s ingress.
- guests have been overwhelmingly supportive. We all recognize that no one can enjoy a performance if they are concerned about their safety. As industry leaders, as Joe notes, there is no more important priority for us operationally to prioritize. “We can’t be complacent. There is no completely safe venue or completely safe community. We owe it to the people we serve to make our venues as safe as possible, to continue to listen to best practices from inside and outside our industry, and apply them to our buildings.” As an industry leader, I am often asked for best practices when it comes to securing a PAC. The answer is no. There are many smart practices that can be put in place, though it is a mistake to take a cook- ie-cutter approach. The needs of my venue are unlikely to be the same
12 Facility Manager Magazine Photo by Thomas Hawk
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