By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – Some new safety procedures are being put in place at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
Beginning with Friday’s Bloomington Thunder game, Assistant General Manager Traci Andracke said the venue will be putting a size restriction on all bags. No bags larger than 13″x15″x6″ will be permitted.
“And what does that mean? It’s about the size of a small to medium woman’s purse,” said Andracke. “What we’re trying to do is just kind of restrict the things that people can try to bring into the building. We have a lengthy list of the prohibited items that you are not allowed to bring in.
“Anything from outside food and beverages to weapons of any kind, professional photography, umbrellas, even selfie sticks aren’t allowed.”
All bags, purses or personal items of any size will be subject to search. Andracke said if someone has an oversized bag, they’ll be asked to return it to their vehicle as the Coliseum does not have the ability to store the bag.
Additionally, the Coliseum will also now more often be using hand-held security wands to scan all patrons prior to entry.
“We’ve been asked by several promoters to follow by standards that a lot of other buildings are doing for additional security procedures over these last six weeks or so,” Andracke said.
To account for the time the new safety procedures take, the Coliseum will begin opening its doors 90 minutes before events instead of 60.
The primary goal, Andracke said, is to make sure the building is as safe as possible.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
