The annual Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama brings throngs of fans to root on their teams whether the game is in Tuscaloosa or Auburn. With such an influx of people, the host city is responsible for ensuring the safety and enjoyment capacity of all fans. For the city of Auburn, plans are set in place before the season even begins. According to various departments, these plans are set to accommodate every football weekend, whether the opponent is Western Carolina or the Crimson Tide. “Any game day, obviously, we have a lot more people come into town,” said Bill James, public safety director for the city of Auburn. “We work with outside agencies that come in and assist us with security, traffic direction, and things of that nature both inside and outside the stadium.” James said that contracting outside agencies is necessary. With the added population to the city, the current personnel would be stretched without help. “As I recall, there may be 150-160 added personal on any game day,” James said. “There are always a lot more calls that come in – anything from ‘I need directions’ to ‘I need assistance.’” With Alabama coming to town Nov. 30, James isn’t sure whether any addition plans or precautions will need to be taken within his department. “I’m not sure,” James said. “We may add some additional people with it being a bigger game, but every game is prepared for basically the same way regardless of the opponent.” While James’ department ensures the safety of the visitors and citizens of Auburn, the department of environmental services focuses heavily on the appearance and sanitation of downtown Auburn. Michael Marshall, the department’s right-of-way coordinator, oversees operations to keep the downtown area clean and inviting for all fans and visitors to the city. “We maintain the whole, overall look of downtown,” Marshall said. “On home games, we stage close to the site that so when the citizens come celebrate, we can move in when they’re done to make sure the intersections and lights are clear.” Marshall, like James, said plans for how to deal with downtown is determined in large part before the season even begins, and differences between the Iron Bowl and other home games are very minimal. “There are responsibilities we have on home game weekends that we have plan for,” Marshall said. “It’s never all of a sudden. It requires planning and execution from year-to-year so we get everyone staged where they need to be.” Unlike James, though, Marshall’s part of maintenance does not require coordination with the University. “We just focus on downtown. There isn’t any coordination between us and the University,” Marshall said. “We work with what we provide. On game days, we have our sections and they have theirs. We focus on the main city thoroughfares.” But Marshall said any differences in planning or execution hinge only on the time it takes for cleanup and cooperation with public safety. “On big games like the Iron Bowl, we have to coordinate closely with public safety so we can get out equipment in downtown without any fan interference,” Marshall said. “We tie in together. But we also know it will be more time-consuming depending on the size of the game, to plan for the fans and celebration.” According to Marshall, the plans set at the beginning of the year have worked and that there are no plans to change operations for the Iron Bowl. “Our biggest job though is to get in and get out without causing too much disruption,” Marshall said. “But we have a job, and that is to make Auburn one of the cleanest, best-maintained cities in the state if not the country.” Mike Jordan, area manager for the southern division of Alabama Power, helps plan the power usage for the city of Auburn during game days. Alabama Power is the primary power provider to the area, and is responsible, in coordination with the city and University, for providing power on game days. “Alabama Power is the provider of power for the city of Auburn,” Jordan said. “We have a number of folks who make sure the power gets to where it needs to go and that capacity is filled.” Jordan said Alabama Power has no fear about an overloading of the capacity in Auburn for game days, and there is no concern about not supplying enough. “Is there concern? No,” Jordan said. “Are there issues that pop up? Yes. There’s always a risk of an outage, but we always take extra steps to insure there isn’t one.” Jordan said these precautions include pre-season maintenance, testing and troubleshooting before a down is played at Jordan-Hare. According to Jordan, the real risks of outages come from weather and animals or humans. “Winds could knock a tree on to a power line,” Jordan said. “Or an animal could chew through a wire or a person, unfortunately, might drive into a line. But outside of that, there isn’t much concern. With the increased size and scope of the Iron Bowl, Jordan feels there is no cause for any extra preparation on the part of Alabama Power. “The University is fed from one of two substations,” Jordan said. “So if something were to happen, the stadium, or the University, should be fed from the other substation. We have well-trained people who know how to handle an outage as well as steps to prevent it from occurring.” While more fans will flock to The Plains to cheer their team onto victory, the city of Auburn and its partners in operation will treat the weekend as business as usual.
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