Tacoma convention center coming back to life with new COVID-19 protocols
The Greater Tacoma Convention Center received some good news this week in terms of reopening, but don’t expect large extravaganzas there just yet.
Under new guidance from the governor’s office received Sept. 22, business meetings of up to 200 people or 30 percent capacity per room are now allowed as part of the state’s Safe Start reopening plan.
For convention centers and large hotels in the state, that means business meetings, testing and educational events are now allowed.
Think accreditation exams, not trade shows.
The first business event organized under the guidance is to take place Oct. 21-23 in the ballrooms. The event is certification testing for engineers and land surveyors, with capacity for 57 attendees split into three groups of 19.
Public venues have been shut down since March as a way to slow COVID-19 spread in the coronavirus pandemic.
Kim Bedier, director of Tacoma Venues & Events, worked on the new protocols as part of a statewide coalition.
According to Bedier, “We started coming together as a coalition I think back in June, and developed these guidelines, as a group, as a commitment to safety, so that we could give the public some confidence to come back.
“We wanted consistency, too, so if you went from our building up to Washington State Convention Center or over to Spokane, you can expect the same level of safety and sanitation, and see the same icons on the signs so you could figure it all out.”
For now, “This is not about having your fundraiser dance thing yet,” she said. “It’s very specific to business meetings where people would come in and sit in a physically distant fashion.”
Any on-site food or beverage options would be either pre-packaged or pre-plated.
Participant registration also will be key to be able to do contact tracing in the event of any COVID-19 case investigation.
Tacoma is in the process of updating its venues to meet new pandemic standards, including:
▪ HVAC upgrades to improve air quality and ionization units to reduce air particles.
▪ Electrostatic sprayers to disinfect between meetings.
▪ Replacing water fountains with single bottle fillers in public lobby areas and making restroom facility fixtures touchless.
▪ UVC cleaning technology for escalators.
▪ Employee training and healthy workplace protocols, including PPE.
▪ Frequent cleaning and sanitation during events, along with making hand sanitizer available.
▪ Reorganizing spaces to maintain physical distancing and working with clients on adapted seating arrangements.
▪ Signage offering public health reminders.
The convention center also will offer staggered event times if there are multiple events. The center’s entrances on multiple levels can also help direct patrons to specific meeting locations to avoid a large influx of combined attendees.
Venue officials also are working on touch-free pay options, such as apps to pay for parking and a “reverse” ATM where cards could be purchased to pay for items inside, instead of using cash.
All told, the upgrades for the convention center, Tacoma Dome, Cheney Stadium, Rialto and Pantages theaters and Theatre on the Square will cost around $2 million via CARES Act funding.
The Dome takes the bulk of that at $1.2 millon.
“And that’s just because the convention center is a little newer, it’s not as much as we’re going to be spending on the Dome on things like air conditioning units,” Bedier said.
The coalition was close to receiving the guidance in the summer, Bedier recalled. Then the state started seeing a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, causing a setback.
The convention center was able to host state bar exams in July after being deemed an essential service, according to Bedier.
“The coalition was anxious to get the guidelines in place because we can now book four months out based on this guideline and get some activity in the building,” Bedier said.
So far, the convention center has seen 64 canceled events and 56 postponed events, with a combined estimated regional economic impact of more than $10 million, according to figures supplied by Bedier.
As to when full-blown conventions may come back, she was more circumspect.
“It really depends on what’s happening and getting our arms around this virus,” she said, along with, ultimately, a vaccine.
The convention center reopening for limited meetings comes just ahead of the new downtown Marriott hotel, for now set to open sometime in November, according to Bedier.
Every step to reopening needs to be careful and deliberate, she noted.
“We don’t want to hold a bunch of events then have to shut down again,” Bedier said. “We are really focused on safety.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
