As Omaha continues to attracts thousands of people to CHI Health Center and TD Ameritrade Park, MECA is moving forward with plans to make sure everyone who comes to town feels safe at every event.
Nearly one million people made their way to CHI Health Center during the 2018-2019 fiscal year for big-name concerts, major sporting events and conventions.
This year, the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority is focusing on upgrading safety features around the convention center and the ballpark. The last few years, MECA officials set up temporary barriers around the convention center and the ballpark during major events.
Now, MECA has decided to start working on a more permanent solution. The plan is to set up permanent barriers around CHI Health Center and TD Ameritrade Park.
“It’s just getting to the point where we need to something more on a permanent basis so that we protect people coming to our events,” said Roger Dixon, President and CEO of MECA told 6 News.
MECA officials say the permanent barriers will be great for safety but they won’t take away from the looks of the facilities in the area.
“The design process is still very much in the works but they’ll probably be a bollard design, and that’s just like a post that is permanently placed in the ground and would be placed strategically around the MECA campus in conjunction where Homeland Security told us would be the best safety practices to,” Kristyna Engdahl with MECA told 6 News.
MECA officials say the new permanent security barriers will be constructed in phases. They hope to have the first phase of the project completed in time for the annual Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting in early May.